1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
We are ORCRYPT. We are a three-headed beast from the depths of the British underground, driven by a need to spread our Dark Fantasy inspired Black Metal to the hordes. A decade ago, ORCRYPT formed to inflict droning black metal and goblin chants. Two years ago, ORCRYPT reformed, invigorated with fresh blood to assault with cutting riffs and undead shrieks. Now our new record is complete, ready to be birthed into the darkness.
2.You have a new album coming out on Halloween, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
The writing process for ORCRYPT is built within and around limitations. We have rules that we follow both during the writing and recording processes. Mercenaries of Mordor was a very single-minded record, both in sound and concept, inspired by The Lord of the Rings and particularly Ralph Bakshi's animated adaptation. This resulted in an unrelentingly bleak, droning, and deliberately lo-fi record as a result of this approach. While ORCRYPT continued to operate within our self-imposed rules, the tastes and preferences of the new line-up have resulted in a more varied record. When we started initial writing on Balrog & Roll there was a deliberate attempt to emulate the style of the original record, but this came felt insincere and false, once the new members started to write using their own styles and influences the songs improved organically. In short: less BURZUM & EMPEROR, and more DARKTHONE & MAYHEM, with some older inspirations as well.
3.The new album was based upon 'Dungeons & Dragons', can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in role playing games?
Role-playing games, pen and paper games, and table-top games have always had an appeal to us. In different ways they allow the players to indulge in power fantasies and explore worlds similar to the one Tolkien created. For as rich as Tolkien's world is, we are relegated to being mere observers to these heroic actions, games like Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer allow us to be the heroes or the villains, and to command the armies ourselves. Further to this, it is often forgotten that for a time Dungeons & Dragons and Heavy Metal Music were demonised by the press, particularly in America during the "Satanic Panic" as corrupting influences being blamed for human sacrifices, murder and suicide. This was what inspired our song "Dice & Damnation".
4.The earlier material covered the writings of j.R.R Tolkien, do you any other fantasy authors have an influence on your songwriting?
We are pretty transparent about our influences: Mercenaries of Mordor was inspired by Tolkien's Middle Earth; Balrog & Roll was inspired by Gary Gygax's Dungeons & Dragons, as well as the Satanic Panic and Games Workshop's Warhammer. However, that is not to say that there aren't other writers, worlds and media that we wish to explore in the future.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Orcrypt"?
Simply put, the "ORCRYPT" is a crypt for Orcs, the dark and fantastical place from which our music and inspiration comes forth.
6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
The artwork is simultaneously a representation of the album itself and the game in general. An all-powerful figure with a book that leads to a world of darkness, danger and adventure. Beyond this we wanted the style of the artwork to hail back to the style and atmosphere of the early Dungeons & Dragons books, magazines and cartoons.
7.Has the band doing any live shows or open to the idea?
We are yet to venture into the live arena. We were having discussions as to the possibilities and logistics of making ORCRYPT a live entity, and what we thought that should look like, when the worldwide plague came and put a stop to those plans. At the moment we cannot say much with any certainty, but we hope to be able to bring forth our audio assaults to a live setting in the future.
8.The new album is going to be released on 'Death To Music Productions, how would you compare working with this label to your older label 'Iron Pegasus Records'?
Working with Death To Music Productions has afforded us a remarkable level of freedom and independence. We have been able to do, what we wanted to do, at our own pace. That being said communication has always been open and honest between us, and they have been instrumental in allowing our vision come to fruition.
9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
For a band that is yet to tour and has been inactive for large spans of its lifespan, it is encouraging to find we have fans in continental Europe and the Americas, and we hope over time we can lure more into the ORCRYPT.
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We will always be Black Metal. That is the music that burns in our dark hearts. However, as we look to the future, exploring other concepts, our sound may evolve and warp in line with our inspirations. Put another way, there are other stories and worlds we want to explore, and we might have to shape our sound to fit that theme, but only ever within the boundaries of our rules. We do not see our rules as a limitation, but rather as a challenge to help focus our creativity.
11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
The obvious answer would be the Norwegian masters. For Mercenaries of Mordor there was a strong influence from the "demo tape" eras of BURZUM, EMPEROR, and DARKTHRONE. For Balrog & Roll we feel much more of a DARKTHRONE and MAYHEM influence, but also DISSECTION, BLACK SABBATH, MOTORHEAD, VENOM and JUDAS PRIEST, although not always that are obvious or expected. As for what we listen to now, that varies from member to member, day to day, but includes: modern Black Metal such as VOICES, ZEAL & ARDOR and HOTH, worshipers of the "old school" like DARKTHRONE, DEVASTATOR and our brothers in OLD FOREST, classic masters like JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN and MEGADETH, more progressive bands like ANATHEMA and IN THE WOODS, and film sound tracks by ENNIO MORRICONE, GOBLIN, BASIL POLEDOURIS and JOHN CARPENTER.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
We will not be disappearing for years after this album! The next chapter is still being written! Until then: ROLL THE DICE; WORSHIP SATAN; ENTER THE ORCRYPT!
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