Kryptos is an Indian heavy metal band from

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, India, formed in 1998 by Nolan Lewis (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s) and Ganesh K. (

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

). They are one of the pioneers of the modern Indian heavy metal movement. Since their inception the band has released six albums: '' Spiral Ascent'' (2004), '' The Ark of Gemini'' (2008),'' The Coils of Apollyon'' (2013), ''Burn Up The Night'' (2016), ''Afterburner'' (2019) and ''Force of Danger'' (2021).

History

Early years (1998–2003)

Kryptos was formed in late 1998, Essentially a classic heavy metal band—they focus on fusing NWOBHM styling with elements of 1980s

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

. Their primary influences include

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

and

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

along with secondary influences such as

Coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

Kreator Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédér ...

Mercyful Fate Mercyful Fate is a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen, formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. Influenced by progressive rock and hard rock, and with lyrics dealing with Satan and the occult, Mercyful Fate w ...

, and Candlemass.

Debut album (2004)

Their debut album '' Spiral Ascent'' quickly spread through the underground circuit in India as well as countries like Germany, Argentina and other parts of Europe. The album although long being out of print and is today considered a landmark release in Indian metal history. Dark Tranquillity's

Niklas Sundin Niklas Sundin (born 13 August 1974 in Gothenburg, Sweden) is a musician of the band Mitochondrial Sun, but was best known as the founding lead guitarist of band Dark Tranquillity (1989–2020). He was also one of the guitarists in the band Laethor ...

designed the album sleeve.

Signing with Old School Metal Records and second studio album (2006–2009)

Kryptos signed with Old School Metal Records from California, United States in April 2006 and became one of the first metal bands from India to sign with an international metal label. Vocalist/bassist Ganesh K. and guitarist Akshay 'Axe' Patel left the band in November 2006 which led to various changes in Kryptos' line-up. Nolan Lewis took up lead vocal and guitarist duties. Rohit Chaturvedi and Jayawant Tewari were hired to fill the further incumbent guitarist and bassist positions. Kryptos entered the studios later that year to record the follow up to their debut album and emerged in mid-2008 with their second album:'' The Ark of Gemini,'' which received excellent reviews from different parts of the world and also enjoyed a fair amount of airplay on U.S. and European metal radio stations.

Supporting Iron Maiden (2009)

Kryptos landed the supporting slot for

at Rock 'N India 2009 in their home town Bangalore—playing to almost 17,000 fans at the Palace Grounds.

''The Coils of Apollyon'' (2012)

'' The Coils of Apollyon'' was released on 18 February 2012 in India and 21 September 2012 internationally.

Tours

Early tours (Invasion Europa 2010 and Into the Spectral Void 2013)

In July 2010 Kryptos became the first Indian metal band to complete a cross-country tour of Europe, playing at the Rockmarathon festival in Hungary, in the Flammeng Open Air festival in Germany, as well as many more club gigs throughout Germany and Switzerland. The band kick-started the year 2012 by supporting folk/melodic death metal band Suidakra and German thrash metal pioneers

at the inaugural edition of the Bangalore Open Air in June 2012. November of the same year saw them support Swedish

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

band

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

at the third edition of the Harley Rock Riders festival. The band opened for Testament, whom they happen to consider an important musical influence, at the NH7 Festival in Bangalore. In 2013 Kryptos again toured Europe playing at festivals like In Flammeng Open Air, Ragnarock Open Air, and most notably Wacken Open Air, becoming the first Indian band ever to play at Wacken Open Air.

Signing with Seaside Touring and present events (2014–present)

In 2014 the band started the year with an appearance at

Inferno Metal Festival Inferno Metal Festival is an annual extreme metal festival that takes place every year during Easter in Oslo, Norway. The festival was founded by Borknagar guitarist Jens F. Ryland in cooperation with Radar Booking in 2001 and takes place at Rockef ...

in Norway and later announced a partnership with Seaside Touring. They again played the Bangalore Open Air opening for

Destruction Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger * Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism * Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kind ...

and

Rotting Christ Rotting Christ is a Greek black metal band formed in 1987. They are noted for being one of the first black metal bands within this region, as well as a premier act within the European underground metal scene. They are also responsible for creati ...

. In September 2014 they announced their Europe tour: 'Apollyon Rising'. The tour started with the show at Hamburg Metal Dayz followed by 17 tour dates in countries such as Germany, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Switzerland. The 17 days tour was part of the Wacken Road Show. In 2016 the band supported American thrash metal band

Death Angel Death Angel is an American thrash metal band from Daly City, California, initially active from 1982 to 1991 and again since 2001. Death Angel has released nine studio albums, two demo tapes, one box set and three live albums. The band has gone ...

in Germany and played a one-off show with Nervosa,

Hirax The Hydrogen Intensity and Real-time Analysis eXperiment (HIRAX) is an interferometric array of 1024 6-meter (20 ft) diameter radio telescopes, operating at 400-800MHz, that will be deployed at the Square Kilometer Array site in the Karoo regi ...

and The Black Dahlia Murder in the Austrian town of

Dornbirn Dornbirn () is a city in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It is the administrative centre for the district of Dornbirn, which also includes the town of Hohenems, and the market town Lustenau. Dornbirn is the largest city in Vorarlberg ...

. In 2017 the band opened for Swedish heavy metal band

Katatonia Katatonia are a Swedish heavy metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band started as a studio-only project for the duo, as an outlet for the band's love of death metal. Increasing popularity led them to ...

Saarang Saarang (means ' Chital' or Spotted Deer in Sanskrit, a common sight on IIT Madras campus) is the annual social and cultural festival of IIT Madras. It is a 5 day long festival usually in the second week of the year. Founded in 1974, Saarang i ...

Indian Institute of Technology Madras Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) is a public technical university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. As one of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), it is recognized as an Institute of National Importance and has be ...

and followed it up with a European summer tour supporting American thrash metal band

Sacred Reich Sacred Reich is an American thrash metal band based in Phoenix, Arizona, that was formed in 1985. The band split in 2000, but reunited in 2006. Sacred Reich has been credited, along with Testament, Destruction, Death Angel and Dark Angel, for ...

on the 30 Years of Ignorance tour, which included dates in Germany, Austria and The Netherlands, as well as appearances at Rockharz Open Air and

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music, rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and su ...

. This tour would prove to be the most defining in the band's history and laid the foundation for their first headlining tour in 2019, which included a first concert in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. In 2018 long time drummer Anthony Hoover announced his departure from the band. Since then, Vijit Singh took over drum duties and joined the band on a permanent basis.

Band members

Present

* Nolan Lewis -

(2005–present),

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

(1998–present) * Rohit Chaturvedi -

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

(2006–present) * Ganesh Krishnaswamy -

(1998-2005), bass (1998-2005, 2013–present) * Vijit Singh -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2019–present)

Former

* Akshay 'Axe' Patel -

s (2001-2006) * Jayawant Tewari -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(2005-2013) * Ching Len -

(1998-2000) * Ryan Colaco -

(2000-2013) * Anthony Hoover -

(2013–2018)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:100 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1998 till:12/31/2021 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1998 ScaleMinor = increment:2 start:1998 Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitars value:green legend:Guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines1 value:black legend:Studio_albums LineData = at:06/25/2004 color:black layer:back at:05/15/2008 color:black layer:back at:02/18/2012 color:black layer:back at:09/23/2016 color:black layer:back at:06/21/2019 color:black layer:back at:10/01/2021 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Lewis text:"Nolan Lewis" bar:Axe text:"Akshay ‘Axe’ Patel" bar:Rohit text:"Rohit Chaturvedi" bar:Ganesh text:"Ganesh Krishnaswamy" bar:Jayawant text:"Jayawant Tewari" bar:Len text:"Ching Len" bar:Ryan text:"Ryan Colaco" bar:Hoover text:"Anthony Hoover" bar:Vijit text:"Vijit Singh" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Lewis from:01/01/1998 till:end color:Guitars bar:Axe from:01/07/2001 till:10/01/2006 color:Guitars bar:Rohit from:10/02/2006 till:end color:Guitars bar:Ganesh from:01/01/1998 till:10/01/2006 color:Bass bar:Ganesh from:07/02/2013 till:end color:Bass bar:Jayawant from:10/02/2006 till:07/01/2013 color:Bass bar:Len from:07/01/1998 till:07/01/2000 color:Drums bar:Ryan from:07/02/2000 till:07/01/2013 color:Drums bar:Hoover from:07/02/2013 till:01/01/2019 color:Drums bar:Vijit from:01/06/2019 till:end color:Drums width:3 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Lewis from:10/02/2006 till:end color:Vocals bar:Ganesh from:01/01/1998 till:10/01/2006 color:Vocals

Discography

Studio releases

* '' Spiral Ascent'' (2004) * '' The Ark of Gemini'' (2008) * '' The Coils of Apollyon'' (2012) * ''Burn Up The Night'' (2016) * ''Afterburner'' (2019) * ''Force of Danger'' (2021)

References

External links

Official Website

Kryptos
at MySpace
Kryptos
at

Last.fm Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of the tracks the user listens to, e ...

Kryptos
at Reverbnation {{DEFAULTSORT:Kryptos (Band) Indian heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1998 Thrash metal musical groups Musical quartets