Cryptal Darkness were an Australian

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band from Melbourne featuring

Mark Kelson Mark Kelson (born 7 March 1976) is a Melbourne born musician, best known for his work as a member of The Eternal, Cryptal Darkness (1995–2002) & Alternative 4 (2010–2013). Career Mark Kelson began his music career in the doom band Crypt ...

, now of The Eternal and InSomnius Dei and for a short period, former

My Dying Bride My Dying Bride are an English doom metal band formed in Bradford. Since their inception in 1990, they have released 13 studio albums, three EPs, one demo, one box set, four compilation albums, one live album, and one live CD/DVD release. Alon ...

Cradle of Filth Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved originally from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic metal and other metal genres. Their ly ...

member,

Martin Powell Martin Powell is an English musician. In 1991, Powell auditioned for the position of bass player in the band My Dying Bride, but was turned down as the band had just filled the position. Upon informing the band he was also a violin and keyboard ...

History

Cryptal Darkness started life as a grindcore/death metal band, that later changed styles and became doom metal band. With the line up of

, Oneil Alexander (drums), Geoff Kloprogge (vocals, guitar) and Jade Von Nagy (bass) the band released a four track single, Descend into Thy Grave and shortly thereafter the debut album ''Endless Tears'', which has been re-released for international distribution. An opening slot at the 1997 Metal for the Brain festival raised awareness of the band somewhat, and much of 1998 was spent working on new material. Former Paramaecium guitarist Chris Burton replaced Kloprogge in 1997 and after some time as a temporary member, Luke Wong finally joined as full-time bassist mid-1998. Around the same time the band started working with ex-

keyboards player

, who came to Australia to join the band and record ''They Whispered You Had Risen'', which displays a more Gothic character than earlier work. Cryptal Darkness had plans to tour Europe in late 2000, but this seems to have not occurred. Kelson has also featured in the Paramaecium line-up and Alexander played drums for Vomitorial Corpulence; both were also members of Desolate Eternity. In early 2003 the band split up and Kelson and Burton formed The Eternal. Kelson is also involved with InSomnius Dei with fellow Cryptal Darkness alumni, Terry Vainoras.

Members

;Last Known Lineup *

– guitars (1995–2002), vocals (1996–2002), keyboards (1996) (ex- Paramaecium) *Chris Burton – guitar (1997–2002) (ex-Paramecium) *Oneil Alexander – drums (1993–2002) (ex- Vomitorial Corpulence, ex-Vomoth) *Luke Wong – bass (1996–2002) *Sean Hinds – keyboards (2000–2002) ;Former *

– violin, keyboards (1999–2000) (ex-

, ex-

) *Terry Vainoras – keyboards (1997) *Geoff Kloprogge – guitar, vocals (1993–1996) *Jade Von Nagy – bass (1996) *Paul Venables – bass (1993–1996) ;Timeline

ImageSize = width:900 height:300 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:120 top:0 right:30 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/2004 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Violins value:pink legend:Violins id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_albums id:Lines2 value:gray(0.55) legend:Other_releases id:bars value:gray(0.95) Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom BackgroundColors=bars:bars ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:1993 LineData = at:01/01/2004 color:Lines2 layer:back at:01/01/1994 color:Lines2 layer:back at:01/01/1995 color:Lines2 layer:back at:01/01/1996 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1996 color:Lines2 layer:back at:01/01/1997 color:Lines2 layer:back at:01/01/1999 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2001 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Geoff text:"Geoff Kloprogge" bar:Mark text:"Mark Kelson" bar:Chris text:"Chris Burton" bar:Paul text:"Paul Venables" bar:Jade text:"Jade Von Nagy" bar:Luke text:"Luke Wong" bar:Oneil text:"Oneil Alexander" bar:Terry text:"Terry Vainoras" bar:Martin text:"Martin Powell" bar:Sean text:"Sean Hinds" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:Geoff from:start till:01/01/1996 color:Vocals bar:Geoff from:start till:01/01/1996 color:Guitar width:3 bar:Mark from:01/01/1996 till:end color:Vocals bar:Mark from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1996 color:Guitar bar:Mark from:01/01/1996 till:end color:Guitar width:3 bar:Mark from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/1997 color:Keys width:5 bar:Chris from:01/01/1997 till:end color:Guitar bar:Paul from:start till:01/01/1996 color:Bass bar:Jade from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/1996 color:Bass bar:Luke from:01/01/1996 till:end color:Bass bar:Oneil from:start till:end color:Drums bar:Terry from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1998 color:Keys bar:Martin from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2000 color:Keys bar:Martin from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2000 color:Violins width:3 bar:Sean from:01/01/2000 till:end color:Keys

Discography

*''Chamber of Gore'' (EP) (Independent Release) *Endless Tears (1996/Obscure) *"Descend Into Thy Grave" (Single) (1996/Obscure) *''The Coldest Winter'' (EP) (1999/Icon) *They Whispered You Had Risen (1999/Icon) *Chapter II – The Fallen (2000/Icon) {{Authority control Australian doom metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Musical quintets 1993 establishments in Australia