Hello Kryptos! Its been a long time since we featured you guys, I think it was long due post ‘Spiral Ascent’ and the much awaited ‘The Ark Of Gemini’, tell us how much time did it take for this album to shape up?
Hello. Well the new album has taken quite a bit of time but we decided before we recorded the whole thing that we’d take our own time and make sure it was done the right way. We didn’t want to rush things so we’re waiting until we’re completely satisfied. We’ve got a few mixes done so right now we’re in the tweaking stages to get things to sound the way they should.

Kryptos has always been popular with diverse majority of dedicated fans, what can these fans expect from the latest release in terms of variety offered in various musical aspects and what new you wish to offer to new listeners?
One striking aspect about our new album is that there are a lot of different things going on. For example we have a song like ‘Tower Of Illusions’, which is an out and out doom track in the vein of Candlemass while we also have a couple of mid paced but really melodic tracks like ‘Trident’ and ‘Sphere VII’ as well as really fast melodic thrashers like the title track for instance. There’s a lot on show this time around. Lots of great riffs and solos and most importantly great songs that people can listen to over and over again.

Since there’s a change in the original line-up, what are the reasons for this? How big or small have been the contributions from the new members ‘Jaywant’ and ‘Rohit’on the recording process? I would like to personally know from Nolan-Is it now difficult to manage twin job of handling vocals and guitars? What effect will it have in the overall musical direction?
I guess the main reason for the line up change was that we reached as far as we could with our old line up and it was time to take things a step further. Sometimes change can be a good thing and in our case it was necessary and as luck would have it, everything turned out rather well. Jayawant and Rohit settled in extremely quickly and even though a good chunk of the material was written before they joined, they brought the whole thing to life and without them the songs wouldn’t sound half as good. As for me handling both vocals and guitars…..it was a bit of a struggle initially but I’m getting used to it more and more as the days pass. Of course I still have to work on my voice a bit but so far so good.

Active gigging is the key to any band’s success in India; apart from your regular presence at RESURRECTION fest, you guys haven’t been very active in gigging over past few years, what’s the reason behind it? Is it too much beer or lethargy in general!
Doesn’t beer lead to lethargy? Haha nope (although I’m sure it played some part). Basically we haven’t gigged as much because of a whole bunch of reasons.
1) We don’t play covers so it isn’t that easy to get gigs since most organizers want bands that play covers.
2) We don’t exactly play something that’s ‘fashionable’ at the moment. We don’t play mallcore or metalcore or death metal or black metal or whatever. I mean how many pure 80’s metal/thrash bands exist in India? Hardly any.
3) There aren’t too many venues that are affordable logistics wise to hold gigs on a regular basis.

On a much serious note, after the release of ‘The ark of Gemini’ are there any venues or fests you would like to play at to promote the album? Any plans of touring Northern India or abroad? Any dream festivals where you would love to play?
Yep we’ll play anywhere and everywhere we can to promote the new album. Some gigs in the North East would be cool since we’ve never been there. As far as gigs abroad goes we’re aiming to hit the metal festival scene in 2008 in Europe. If our album does well then it makes it a lot easier for our label to book us gigs abroad. We’d love to play at festivals like Wacken, Sweden Rock, With Full Force, Tuska etc. It’s always been a dream to play there but I’m pretty sure we can turn it into reality.

Most people are aware about tremendous support offered by Niklas Sundin (Dark tranquility) by designing the cover art for ‘Spiral ascent’, tell us whom have you roped in this time for the art work, is there a specific concept you have in mind before you guys get your artwork created, I am specifically asking this because I was thrilled to see your amazing cover design on your previous release?
This time we went with someone closer to home. Prasad Bhat, vocalist of Extinct Reflections, designed the cover for the new album and it’s absolutely brilliant. Jayawant came up with the original sketches and Prasad brought the whole thing to light.
The cover is open to interpretation and right now I wouldn’t want to give away the original thought process behind it because it’s a lot more fun when people come up with their own interpretations and conclusions. We’re pretty eager to hear from people about what they come up with.

Talking more about the album, which labels have you approached to promote the album across the globe, In India will it be a self-release or promoted by a label?
As of right now Old School Metal Records will release the new album worldwide and they have a good distribution network in most parts of the world. They have tie ups with The End Records which is the biggest metal distro on the planet as well as tie ups with other European metal distros. As far as India goes it will most likely be self released.

From a very raw and feeble recording presence of yours on the ‘Head Bangalore ‘compilation CD released in 2001 to the much anticipated latest release you have traveled a long journey as a band, we want to know what have been the biggest highs and lows for you as a band? How challenging it has been to survive as a metal band for almost a decade now?
Well we’ve had a lot of highs and lows through the years. More of the latter actually haha. But I guess our toughest period was firstly when our original drummer left around 6 years ago but luckily Ryan came into the picture. Secondly we had the tough task of practically starting anew after our split with Ganesh but that worked out quite well too. Of course the biggest high is just getting up on stage and playing our music. That’s what we live for and that’s exactly why we’ve lasted for so long. We don’t do this because it’s in vogue or it’s trendy or to fit in. We do this because this is what we love to do and it’s the only thing that makes sense in an otherwise utterly senseless world.

Since we feel that your music has grown over the years and so has been your influences, which bands as influences have helped you attain such musical high?
Our main influences will always be Priest, Maiden and Sabbath. They’re our foundation and we just build from there. Our secondary influences are of course Dark Tranquillity, Nevermore, Kreator, Candlemass, Coroner etc. So when you throw all these influences into the mix you will always come up with quality stuff.

Everyone knows beer is synonym for Kryptos, thats why we at Metalindia like calling you guys, BEERYPTOS, we even went to the extent of dedicating this question to your favorite drink BEER! Please go on and explain how beer has been your biggest inspiration? Do not hesitate to let your heart out for your beloved drink in the world. This space is all yours!
Heh aww c’mon, most people already know the virtues of beer. It always lightens your mood no matter what. Whether you’re watering your lawn or scraping for food during a nuclear fall out, beer will never let you down haha. Of course the only downside is the huge increase in the girth of our mid sections. It’s pretty tedious carrying your oversized belly while going out to buy bread….or Chupa Chup Lollipops mmmmmm.

Changing track, what do you think about the current metal scene in India? What are you current favorites?
It’s alright I guess. It’s never really been in particularly great shape to begin with. Maybe I’m just cynical since I come from a more traditional music background and don’t really ‘get’ most of the new stuff that’s coming out. But so far I really like bands like Bhoomi, Extinct Reflections, Brute Force, Acrid Semblance, 3rd Sovereign etc. Some of Demonic Resurrections new stuff sounds pretty kickass as well.

Any Asian bands you admire? How quickly do you see India becoming an excellent quality metal bands producing country in Asia?
Hmm I haven’t heard too many Asian bands as such. Loudness from Japan are killer. Orphaned Land is quite good too. India could potentially produce some really good bands but it all depends on how long they stick around which I think is the main problem.

Give us one word answers to the following questions?
1-Nu-age music?
Kryptos- Junk. I could think of a few more choice words haha.
2-Rob Halford or Bruce Dickinson?
Kryptos- Dickinson is king but Halford rules the universe.
3-Greatest metal band ever?
Kryptos- Judas Priest
4-Stronger amongst Goth or Power metal?
Kryptos- Power Metal. Swords and loin cloth undies VS make up and black eyeliner? No contest.
5-Biggest Indian metal band?
Kryptos- Us if we don’t start exercising pretty soon.

Thanks for your time guys, any messages for Kryptos fans?
It was a pleasure as always. And to real metalheads out there, buy our album and stay true to the end. The rest of you….there’s a sale on baggy pants coming soon.

METALINDIA WISHES YOU THE BEST!
Thanks and the same to you. Cheers!

Interview By-Atul Sharma