I get a lot of doom metal albums coming across my desk these days, which I guess is bound to happen when you operate a website called The Blog of Doom. Some of the records are good, most of them are great, and then you have the rare release that pushes the boundaries of doom, forces me to pay 100% attention and ends up in my car stereo for a solid week or more. That's exactly what happened when I received a copy of Beyond Shades, the debut album from Ukranian doom lords Crypt of Silence. With their progressive mix of doom and death metal, these young Ukranians have created something so fresh and powerful and unique that I just had to find out more. I managed to track down Crypt of Silence frontman Mikhael Graver for an interview.
How did you get into doom and who are your influences?
Mikhael Graver: Hello! First of all, music is a voice of the soul. We tried different styles and genres but death-doom became the best tool to express our thoughts and emotions. Of course we do not put any boundaries on our work. In future, we will combine our style with a bit of post rock, atmospheric black metal, and funeral doom. But our main direction in music, we believe, stays the same. There is a lot of great music that inspires us and has some influence on our creativity. Mostly our Influences are Mourning Beloveth, Esoteric, Saturnus, Mournful Congregation, My Dying Bride, Pantheist, Shape of Despair and many others.
What are you currently listening to?
MG: Tastes differ. We listen Behemoth, Lifelover, God is an Astronaut, Tool, Hypocrisy, Death, Enslaved, Amon Amarth. From old school we like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Joy Division, Pink Floyd, Candlemass, Black Sabbath, etc.
Where and when did you record Beyond Shades?
MG: The work on our album began on summer 2013. As it was our first experience, not all things worked out as we planned. The mastering was done by Yevgeny Semenov , the great sound manager from Slow Burn Records studios. He has made monumental efforts to make our album as it sounds now.
What kind of gear are you using on the album?
MG: We used Mesa Boogie, Marshall preamps for guitars and Hiwatt for bass, SansAmp tech 21 guitar pedals and Meinl cymbals.
How did the band get started?
MG: It was created in 2009 by me - Mikhael Graver (Bass Guitar, Vox) and Igor Kim (Rhythm Guitar) as a studio project "Duskart". After recording "Shadows at the wall", the single, at home studio in 2010, we made decision to invite Roman Komyati (Solo Guitar), Andriy Buchinskiy (Drums) and change our musical direction from studio project with dirt/black/drone doom metal to the full value band with more expressive Classic Doom/Death sound. After such huge changes the band decided to change its name to "Crypt Of Silence". In 2011, Igor left the band and became our manager. His position was occupied by Volodymyr Mukha, but not for a long time. A few months later, he left too. Since then and up to the present, the band's rhythm guitarist is Roman Kharandyuk.
How do you keep track of all of the parts in your 10+ minute songs?
MG: It is not as difficult as it seems. We think that songs must be complete in musical and lyrical sense. And when we feel that a song is complete and it brings the necessary semantic weight, we stop, no matter how long it is. If you are putting your soul into work there is no any difficulties at all. And fifteen minutes for a track is not a limit for our band. And in next album we will prove that.
Is there a big doom scene, or metal scene in general, in Ukraine?
MG: There are a lot of good and interesting bands and projects in Ukraine. For example, Nokturnal Mortum, Kroda, Drudkh, Flashgore, Stoned Jesus. But Doom scene in Ukraine is not so developed, compared to other countries.
Do you have any tour plans coming up?
MG: We participate in a couple performances in Ukraine. Also we are looking forward to start European tour but it is not so easy for a young doom metal band.
What's next for Crypt of Silence?
MG: We are going to release at least two albums in future. This summer we are getting to work on our next album; it will be released in 2015. There is a lot of work to be done. Crypt of Silence is a young band, we are continuously working on new content and looking for opportunities to show what we have already made.
How did you get into doom and who are your influences?
Mikhael Graver: Hello! First of all, music is a voice of the soul. We tried different styles and genres but death-doom became the best tool to express our thoughts and emotions. Of course we do not put any boundaries on our work. In future, we will combine our style with a bit of post rock, atmospheric black metal, and funeral doom. But our main direction in music, we believe, stays the same. There is a lot of great music that inspires us and has some influence on our creativity. Mostly our Influences are Mourning Beloveth, Esoteric, Saturnus, Mournful Congregation, My Dying Bride, Pantheist, Shape of Despair and many others.
What are you currently listening to?
MG: Tastes differ. We listen Behemoth, Lifelover, God is an Astronaut, Tool, Hypocrisy, Death, Enslaved, Amon Amarth. From old school we like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Joy Division, Pink Floyd, Candlemass, Black Sabbath, etc.
Where and when did you record Beyond Shades?
MG: The work on our album began on summer 2013. As it was our first experience, not all things worked out as we planned. The mastering was done by Yevgeny Semenov , the great sound manager from Slow Burn Records studios. He has made monumental efforts to make our album as it sounds now.
What kind of gear are you using on the album?
MG: We used Mesa Boogie, Marshall preamps for guitars and Hiwatt for bass, SansAmp tech 21 guitar pedals and Meinl cymbals.
How did the band get started?
MG: It was created in 2009 by me - Mikhael Graver (Bass Guitar, Vox) and Igor Kim (Rhythm Guitar) as a studio project "Duskart". After recording "Shadows at the wall", the single, at home studio in 2010, we made decision to invite Roman Komyati (Solo Guitar), Andriy Buchinskiy (Drums) and change our musical direction from studio project with dirt/black/drone doom metal to the full value band with more expressive Classic Doom/Death sound. After such huge changes the band decided to change its name to "Crypt Of Silence". In 2011, Igor left the band and became our manager. His position was occupied by Volodymyr Mukha, but not for a long time. A few months later, he left too. Since then and up to the present, the band's rhythm guitarist is Roman Kharandyuk.
How do you keep track of all of the parts in your 10+ minute songs?
MG: It is not as difficult as it seems. We think that songs must be complete in musical and lyrical sense. And when we feel that a song is complete and it brings the necessary semantic weight, we stop, no matter how long it is. If you are putting your soul into work there is no any difficulties at all. And fifteen minutes for a track is not a limit for our band. And in next album we will prove that.
Is there a big doom scene, or metal scene in general, in Ukraine?
MG: There are a lot of good and interesting bands and projects in Ukraine. For example, Nokturnal Mortum, Kroda, Drudkh, Flashgore, Stoned Jesus. But Doom scene in Ukraine is not so developed, compared to other countries.
Do you have any tour plans coming up?
MG: We participate in a couple performances in Ukraine. Also we are looking forward to start European tour but it is not so easy for a young doom metal band.
What's next for Crypt of Silence?
MG: We are going to release at least two albums in future. This summer we are getting to work on our next album; it will be released in 2015. There is a lot of work to be done. Crypt of Silence is a young band, we are continuously working on new content and looking for opportunities to show what we have already made.
Editor's Notes: Big thanks to Mikhael for taking some time to give us some excellent insights into his band's history and vision. I'll publish a full review of Beyond Shades as soon as possible, but in the meantime you can check out Crypt of Silence via the link below. Hopefully these guys can get out on tour soon and spread their work to the masses. -JO
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