The return of Angelcrypt

“I remember the day I realised that rock music was my calling,” recalls Shawn Mizzi, one of metal band Angelcrypt’s two guitarists.

It’s really all about the chemistry in the band; this is as important as the music and directly affects our songs

“It was in 1992 and I was watching the Freddie Mercury tribute concert on TV and Metallica came on. When I heard them perform Enter Sandman, I was hooked.”

He admits that at the time he didn’t yet know the meaning of metal, but from that day onwards, he embraced rock wholeheartedly, igniting a passion that led him to start playing the guitar and form a band.

That was some 15 years ago, and despite a number of in-between years spent lying low, Angelcrypt is very much alive. The band’s return to the live scene later this month is one of the main reasons behind this meeting with Mizzi and four fellow band members, namely vocalist Neil Farrugia, guitarist Campos Gellel, bassist Jean Cutajar and drummer Keiston Busuttil.

“The present formation has been together only a few months,” Mizzi explains, but the connection between most of them and Angelcrypt goes back a long way. Gellel and Busuttil, for example, then still quite young, were avid fans of the band.

Gellel was present when Angelcrypt played their very first gig.

“I remember it was during the Grim Reaper Festival at Puschka. I had just started playing in a band at the time and Angelcrypt were a big inspiration.”

Busuttil openly states he was a dedicated fan:

“I was drawn to Angelcrypt because it was the only Maltese band that played the kind of metal I was into. I used to go to all their gigs and stand at the side of the stage, watching their drummer attentively.”

Not all the time, of course, he admits, mainly because there was always some serious moshing to be done in front of the stage too. About the band’s appeal, he points out that “even now, there still isn’t any band that plays the kind of metal Angelcrypt does”.

The band’s signature customised blend of Thrash metal peppered with the melodic aspects more commonly present in power metal is still prominent in the band’s current direction, but as one would expect, it has evolved over the years and with each line-up change, of which there have been quite a few.

They name a variety of bands they deem to have been, or still are, influential to them, ranging from familiar old-school acts Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Savatage and Megadeth to bands from other metal genres, among them Dark Tranquillity, Amon Amarth and Dissection.

“I suppose the best way to reference our influences is to say we sound like none of them and all of them at once.”

One of the most evident changes in the band’s sound has been the total absence of keyboards, partly the result of a decision to delve deeper into guitar territory.

“Now that we have two guitarists, we want to look into developing our sound from a different perspective. I’m not saying we’ll never use keyboards again, but right now, they don’t figure in our plans.”

Unfortunately, this also means Angelcrypt has had to put aside its earlier repertoire.

“Our sound had a strong keyboard presence so we’ll need to rearrange the guitar parts for those songs – or some of them at least – so that we’ll be able to play them with our current set-up”. This, however, is not quite their top priority right now.

Ever since the current line-up came together – essentially June 2011 when, in the space of one week, the existing core of Mizzi, Farrugia and Gellel recruited Busuttil and Cutajar – the band has been working very hard indeed.

“In the space of a few months, we’ve written enough material to more than make up for the time we were ‘lost’,” Mizzi states, clearly satisfied the band overcame a short period during which Farrugia and himself were the only band members left.

“Thanks to Campos’ interest and support, we found the strength to push ahead and here we are now.”

Finding musicians for a band isn’t easy in Malta, especially finding the right musicians.

“We weren’t just looking for musicians,” Mizzi continues. “We wanted to find musicians who would also be compatible besides being talented.”

They count themselves lucky that they managed to do this in a relatively short time. “It’s really all about the chemistry in the band; this is as important as the music and directly affects our songs.”

The first fruit of the new line-up’s work is Eternal Conquest, a six-minute behemoth of epic proportions punctuated by Farrugia’s aggressive vocal timbre and a dynamic metal underlay that marks the first step in Angelcrypt’s return to the fold.

“There are many different elements at play, melody is still a mainstay and will always be vital to giving Angelcrypt a signature sound.”

The song was made available as a free download from the band’s Soundcloud and Grooveshark pages, “to underline the fact that Angelcrypt is back and to offer everyone a taste of what this new line-up has in store”.

The full impact of the new, improved Angelcrypt will be unleashed on February 25, when the band marks its return with a live performance of all-new material alongside fellow Maltese metallers Oblique Visions at V-Gen in Paceville.

Further to re-establishing a live presence on the scene, Angelcrypt is also working on an album.

Meanwhile, the band is documenting its return with a series of clips being filmed during different stages of the band’s activities, from photoshoots to recording sessions and interviews.

“We’re posting these clips on our Youtube channel to share the whole experience with our friends and fans.”

www.facebook.com/angelcrypt

bugeja.michael@gmail.com