Cryptic Shift

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Cryptic Shift
OriginLeeds, West Yorkshire, UK
Genres
Years active2013–present
LabelsMetal Blade, Blood Harvest
MembersXander Bradley
  • Joss Farrington
  • John Riley
  • Ryan Sheperson
Past members
  • Rob Castle
  • Hokumu Blitzkreig
  • Henry Parker
  • Joe Bradley

Cryptic Shift (formerly stylized as Crÿptic Shift) is an English extreme metal band formed in Leeds, West Yorkshire in 2013. They have two EPs and two demos, with their debut album Visitations from Enceladus being released on 4 May 2020 through Blood Harvest records. In an article for The Quietus, the album was referred to as "damn near essential, and proof that [Britain] has a valid contribution to make to this new wave of progressive death metal".[1]

History[edit]

The members of what would become Cryptic Shift began working on writing music together at the beginning of 2010, while they were all in High School. The band was officially formed in 2013[2] by guitarist Xander Bradley, drummer Ryan Sheperson, vocalist Rob Castle and bassist Hokumu Blitzkreig. The group released their debut demo tape Old Chapel Demos in 2014, however soon after, Castle departed from the group, leading to Bradley taking on the addition role of vocalist, and the hiring of Henry Parker as an additional guitarist. Around this time, the band underwent what Bradley considers a "reincarnation", where the band began "a new focused sound and much improved mindset".[2] In 2015, Parker departed from the group, being replaced by John Riley. This line-up recorded the demo tape Beyond The Celestial Demo the same year, followed a few months later by a split EP with Beastial Invasion. On 27 November 2015, their debut single Deathcrusher was released.[3] The track was then included on their debut EP, released on 1 April 2016, titled Beyond the Celestial Realms.[4] On 3 February 2016, they opened for Exodus at Fibbers in York.[5] Parker departed from the group in 2017, succeeded by guitarist Joe Bradley.[3] On 28 April 2017 they released they released the single Cosmic Dreams.[6] Their debut full length album Visitations from Enceladus was released on 4 May 2020 through Blood Harvest Records.[7] Metal Hammer named it as the 13th best metal album of 2020.[8]

Musical style[edit]

The band have been categorised as death metal,[9][10] thrash metal,[11][10] and technical death metal,[1][10][12] often incorporating elements of jazz, progressive metal,[13] doom metal, noise music,[12] psychedelic rock[14] latin music[15] and black metal.[16] Dom Lawson for Metal Hammer described them as "phenomenal technological astro-death".[17] Echoes and Dust writer Joseph Norman said they are "progressive without being proggy, without being Opeth" and "a pitch-perfect balance of death and thrash sensibilities".[12] The Quietus stated that are reviving an "early 90s wave of progressive death metal".[18]

Echoes and Dust writer Joseph Norman referred to them as the "most innovative, tech-death-thrash band that the UK has to offer" and their debut album as "Death metal teams with the tentacled, extra-dimensional monsters of pulp science fiction and space opera, and the weird tales of Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert Howard".[12] In an article for Metal Hammer writer Jonathan Selzer described their debut album as "a visionary, fully-realised assault on the senses whose preview tracks released so far have already put the underground's knickers in a physics-defying twist".[9] In a PopMatters article, it was stating that they are "modernizing the best that retro extreme metal has to offer".[15]

Their releases often include overarching lyrical themes and stories about astronomy and outer space with technical musicianship, elaborate song structures and death growls. In an interview for Distorted Sound, vocalist Xander Bradley stated that "There's sci-fi sound FX, a ton of solos and plasma. There's also an extremely in-depth accompanying space adventure tale told within the lyrics, artworks and beyond".[19] The story told on 2020's Visitations From Enceladus even having begun on 2017's Cosmic Dreams.[20] An article for Toilet ov Hell stated that "Thematically, while science fiction has always had an undeniable presence in death metal it's now more vital than ever in a time when the genre is starving for a path forward beyond tongue-in-cheek shock-n-shlock tedium without having to abandon the grim, foreboding atmosphere that carried it for years" Elements such as guitar hooks, abrupt tempo changes,[13] atmospherics, melodic passages.[21] dissonance and harmonies are commonplace.[22]

They have cited musical influences including the Faceless, Vektor, Atheist, Martyr, Gorguts, Death, Obscura, Revocation,[19] Pestilence, John Williams, Atrocity[23] Morbid Angel, Dead Brain Cells, the Chasm, Timeghoul, Sadus and Nocturnus,[12] and stated their lyrics are influenced by the video games Dark Souls and Bloodborne.[12] Distorted Sound writer Danny Sanderson described them as "the UK's answer to Death" and as well as "Mixing together the best of classic thrash and death metal, and coupling the progressive leanings of Atheist and Gorguts with the stunning musicality of the likes of Control Denied and the aforementioned Death".[13]

Discography[edit]

Visitations from Enceladus[edit]

Visitations from Enceladus
Studio album by
Cryptic Shift
ReleasedMay 4, 2020
GenreProgressive death metal, thrash metal, technical death metal
Length46:32
LabelBlood Harvest

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleLength
1."Moonbelt Immolator"25:56
2."(Petrified in the) Hypogean Gaol"7:20
3."The Arctic Chasm"7:46
4."Planetary Hypnosis"5:30
Total length:46:32

Personnel[edit]

Cryptic Shift

  • Xander Bradley – guitar, lead vocals
  • Joss Farrington – guitar
  • John Riley – bass
  • Ryan Sheperson – drums

Additional personnel

  • Damian Herring – mastering

Other releases[edit]

EPs
  • Split EP with Beastial Invasion (2015)
  • Beyond the Celestial Realms (2016)
Singles
  • Deathcrusher (2015)
  • Cosmic Dreams (2017)
Demos
  • Old Chapel Demos (2014)
  • Beyond the Celestial Demo (2015)

Members[edit]

Current
  • Xander Bradley – guitar (2012–present), lead vocals (2014–present)
  • Joss Farrington – guitar (2020–present)
  • John Riley – bass (2015–present)
  • Ryan Sheperson – drums (2012–present)
Past
  • Rob Castle – lead vocals (2012–2014)
  • Hokumu Blitzkreig – bass (2012–2015)
  • Henry Parker – guitar (2014–2017)
  • Joe Bradley – guitar (2017–2020)

Timeline[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Whelan, Kez. "Columnus Metallicus: Heavy Metal For April Reviewed By Kez Whelan". The Quietus. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Cryptic Shift Interview- May 2017". Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Cryptic Shift". Archived from the original on 24 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  4. ^ "Cryptic Shift – Beyond The Celestial Realms". Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  5. ^ Lowery, Matthew. "Exodus / Lost Society / Cryptic Shift – Live Review – 03/02/16". Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  6. ^ Yardley, Miranda. "Listen to the new Cryptic Shift single 'Cosmic Dreams'". Terrorizer. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  7. ^ Hickman, Langdon (18 May 2020). "Cryptic Shift Deliver "Visitations From Enceladus" to Turn Death-Thrash Into High Art". Invisible Oranges. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  8. ^ "The 50 best metal albums of 2020". Metal Hammer. Future plc. 8 January 2020. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  9. ^ a b Selzer, Jonathan. "UK death metal deviants Cryptic Shift enter an unhinged new universe". Metal Hammer. Archived from the original on 17 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  10. ^ a b c Pearce, Dutch. "Track Premiere: Cryptic Shift – "(Petrified in the) Hypogean Gaol"". Decibel. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  11. ^ SCHAFER, JOSEPH. "Mining Metal: Ara, Cryptic Shift, Goden, Lascar, Mekong Delta, Oozing Wound, Patrons of the Rotting Gate, Xibalba". Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Norman, Joseph. "REVIEW: CRYPTIC SHIFT – VISITATIONS FROM ENCELADUS". Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  13. ^ a b c Sanderson, Danny. "ALBUM REVIEW: Visitations From Enceladus – Cryptic Shift". Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  14. ^ "Cryptic Shift – "Visitations From Enceladus"". Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  15. ^ a b STASIS, SPYROS; POSCIC, ANTONIO. "MetalMatters: May 2020 - Adapting to Reality". PopMatters. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  16. ^ Lovdahl, Ian. "Album Review: Cryptic Shift – Visitations from Enceladus". Retrieved 30 May 2020.[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ Lawson, Dom (28 May 2020). "Cryptic Shift". Metal Hammer.
  18. ^ Whelan, Kez. "Columnus Metallicus: The Best Heavy Metal Of 2020". The Quietus. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  19. ^ a b McHugh, Dan. "Cryptic Shift: The Imminent Invasion". Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  20. ^ Weller, Phil. "Cryptic Shift – Visitations From Enceladus". Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  21. ^ Sanders, Brad. "The Best Metal on Bandcamp: May 2020". Bandcamp Daily. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  22. ^ Duvall, Zach. "Cryptic Shift – Visitations From Enceladus Review". Archived from the original on 14 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  23. ^ "Damim and Cryptic Shift pick their favourite tech death releases!". Archived from the original on 28 April 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
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