Crypted plays by its own rules. What else can you say about a death metal band that themed its first EP around Lord Shiva? Added to that, its debut album to be recorded by the end of the year is about human disorders. So it isn’t surprising that the band’s music got it into the semifinals of the Wacken Metal Battle India to be held on June 10 in Bangalore. “We have no idea what’s going to happen,” says a hopeful V G Pranav (guitar), “but let’s hope we make it through.” Among the four bands shortlisted from the South region, Crypted is the only one from Chennai.
The rest of the band has Siva Sbk (vocals), Adarsh Raghuram (bass) and Vishnu Reddy (drums). It has been three years since they started and there have been line-up changes; their vocalist had to shift base to Bangalore, reducing their jam sessions considerably.
So how do they make it work? “We would love to jam on Skype,” laughs Vishnu, “but some of us are not blessed with fast internet speeds.” Instead, the bass guitar riffs and drum parts are recorded here (Chennai) and then mailed to Siva. The vocalist then comes up with the lyrics and mails it back. Before a show, it’s usually just one practice. Maybe that adds to the adrenaline rush.
Once onstage, the music takes over. Although Siva admits, “There is a lot of jumping around,” and drops in “I once fell on the drumkit mid-way through a show”. Good thing that Vishnu was too traumatised and kept on playing. Hopefully, the band won’t do too much damage at the upcoming semifinal in Bangalore.
Should they make it to the final and win, they will get to compete on the international Wacken Metal stage at Germany. Fingers crossed, or in true metal style ‘ /’.