Classic Spins with Cryptonight

Why don't you take a minute and stream this record.

HERE.

Look at this group of ICE DOGS right here. Wait...no, they're not Ice Dogs...they're STEELHEADS.

Yeaaaah...that's pretty metal.

Well, hopefully you're digging on the Black Ritual right now and you're ready to hear about the records they love.

1. My favourite kind of album is the concept album. The Wall is my absolute favourite. Beyond the amazing songs, it has spectacular nostalgia for me. 

What's your favourite one and why?

The Cryptilian says: In theory, many albums that I listen to are concept albums because I listen to a lot of Death Metal, and most Death Metal bands have a recurring theme for their albums… Death. 

The concept is always about death and it is rarely specific, which makes for a very succinct way of writing concept albums.

Jekyll says: My favourite concept album is “Exoplanet" by The Contortionist. The song “Egress" tells a story about a group of beings journeying into a different solar system in search of an exoplanet. 

"Void" continues that story when they travel into a different galaxy. “Light" is the final song on the album and it is about the colonization of the exoplanet and the failure of the species that tried to colonize it. That’s all very fascinating, but it was really the solid riffs that caught my attention. 

A couple of my personal recommendations off the album are “Flourish” and “Advent”.

 2. My very first album was Live Evil by Black Sabbath. Since then I've had a strong affinity for the live record, even if they're a bit fake. KISS set the bar with Alive!. Surely, it was fake, but it's got the best concert feel of any one.

Tell me about your favourite live record?

Jekyll says: My favourite live recording of all time is Children of Bodom's Stockholm Knockout Live from 2006.

It’s really fun to watch Alexi Laiho play complicated guitar passages and do vocals simultaneously and effortlessly, even after a few drinks. I remember covering his tunes in grade 10, starting with Needled 24/7.

The Cryptilian says: Unfortunately, I do not have a favourite live record because the bands that I listen to do not usually take an interest in releasing live recordings. 

There may be some exceptions out there, but for the most part, it’s slim pickings for me and none of the ones that I’m aware of interest me.

3. There are a great number of records I've turned to for my moods. What do you listen to when you're angry? Sad?
The Cryptilian says: I listen to Death Metal, Tech Death, Folk Metal, Funeral Doom, Slamming Brutal Death Metal, and other variations of these genres quite regularly regardless of whether I’m angry or not. 

When I’m sad, I enjoy the album “Monotony” by Shape of Despair.

Jekyll says: When I’m angry, I will listen to Reflections, Berried Alive, The Acacia Strain, Varials, and Hatebreed.

When I’m sad, I enjoy The Amity Affliction, NAV, Aqua, Psychostick, and Anal Cunt.

4. One of my friends laughs at me, routinely, for loving the Misfit Toys of albums by major bands. Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed, Carnival of Souls by Kiss, Diabolous En Musica by Slayer, etc.

What's the strange one that you love?

Jekyll says: I’m going to have to agree with you on “Lulu" by Metallica and Lou Reed. It’s absolutely hilarious in my opinion to hear James Hetfield repeatedly state that he is the table, the tablet, the aggressor, and a number of other things.

It’s also quite humorous to know that a large number of people who bought the album "Lulu" were expecting to hear another classic Metallica album, only to return it to the record store moments later for a refund and be irreparably scarred for life in the process.

The Cryptilian says: I don’t really have an album that I would consider to be an oddball because most people would already consider all of them to be odd.

5. It's almost fashionable to release live versions of albums or re-record the old ones. King Diamond is releasing a concert with Abigail front to back. Roger Waters has done The Wall twice. Which ones do you have in your collection?  

Jekyll says: Some of the entries in my collection of live versions of albums include… Meshuggah - Koloss, Shadows Fall - The Art Of Touring (drunk and sh—ty in every city), Hatebreed - Live Dominance, and Cradle of Filth - Peace Through Superior Firepower, to name a few.