Doomed Confessionary: Alexander, Konstantin & Vladimir (Crypt Of Reason)
Belarusian progressive doom death band Crypt Of Reason is gearing up to release their debut full-length album »Stargazer« worldwide on September 24th, 2024.
Produced by Alex Sedin (White Ward, Anachronism, Blighted Eye), »Stargazer« has been crafted from drafts and demos, arranged and produced by the band, and is now ready to see the light. The music is rooted in funeral doom and post-metal, drawing influence from early doom/death acts like Anathema and more modern, dissonant bands like Ulcerate.
Crypt Of Reason hails from Gomel, Belarus. Formed in 2008, the band released only one EP in 2013. They had nearly completed writing their debut LP when Pavel Minutin, the main songwriter and guitarist, passed away unexpectedly in 2016. Despite this tragedy, the band has persevered and is proud to present »Stargazer« as a tribute to his memory.
Crypt Of Reason currently consists of Alexander Naumenko (vocals), Vladimir Izotov (drums, backing vocals) and Konstantin Nikiforov (bass).
Can you say a few words about your band?
We’re from Gomel, the second largest city in Belarus. It’s in the south-east outskirts of the country, near the border. Russia is very close, Ukraine even closer. Chernobyl is a 3h drive away, to give you a better idea of the location.
We started this band in late 00s, heavily inspired by all things doom and post – My Dying Bride and Cult Of Luna being perhaps the biggest influences. Huge fans of pretty much every funeral doom band we knew. Throw in bands like Ion Dissonance and Ulcerate into the mix, and you’ll have the full spectre of our influences.
The band’s leader was Pavel, he wrote all the music and the lyrics. We had our first EP out in 2013 to some great reception, even though our audience was very small. We always stayed a bit aside of the scene, never played live and such. We were mostly focused on writing and producing our music, and just hanging out together in our rehearsal space that we’ve been slowly transforming into a studio. That always felt more than enough.
We had almost everything ready for a full length album when Pavel passed away unexpectedly in 2016. From there, it’s been a long ride but if this interview is happening it means we figured things out for this album to come out.
What was the biggest challenge for the band? What can you be most proud of so far?
Definitely getting ourselves together, and seeing things through with this album. Right after Pavel’s death, there was no plans to continue, nothing like that. We began slowly getting ourselves together, realized how much music we’ve been sitting on, made the decision to get it out. Everyone in the band was busy with their own projects of course, some went through difficult personal times, so this album took many years until everything came into shape. But we did it.
What was your biggest regret?
Nothing, really. The fact we took so much time to finish things only helped us to do everything right. As right as we could. We gave it our all, 100%.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
Really enjoyed last year’s drops by Eave, Oromet, Tideless, Great Falls. This year, Crippling Alcoholism most definitely.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
New Ulcerate, Replicant, Vile Rites. Twisted death metal stuff.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
If you want to get good at something, you must be willing to go through that phase where you’re terrible at it. When it’s time to do something for the first time (like, releasing a full length album for the first time), many people who never done it would assume it will go fine. This is actually not quite true. There are things you can do right, and things you will do wrong, just because of sheer lack of experience. Accept this and try to learn.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Releasing music in a world that doesn’t need more. The world (and the heavy music scene in particular) could definitely use more silence instead.
Can you say something more about current music scene in Gomel / Belarus?
Our city is closer to southern / eastern borders than it is to our capital, so we kind of always had our own way of doing things. The heavy music scene was incredibly strong here in the 00s, especially in hardcore / nu metal department. Gomel was home to Gods Tower, perhaps the most important Belarusian doom band in the 90s. Check out their early works, this band was truly one of a kind. Also, Nik (the main guy from Serdce, #1 prog death band out of our country) is from around here. If you love bands like Cynic and you haven’t heard Serdce, you should jam their »Timelessness« LP right now, just saying. There are some good BM acts from our area (Door into Emptiness, Leprous Vortex Sun, Vietah). There was a bit of everything here honestly, from tech death to grindcore, and tons of groove/nu metal bands. The scene was swarming. Imagine an indoors festival with only local bands with 1k people attending. That’s what it used to be like.
As for the current state of things, there are still enthusiasts who keep things moving, but it’s merely a fraction of what it used to be. Overall the scene is in a full decline across our whole country nowadays. It’s almost impossible to organize gigs, things are heavily censored. No international touring acts here anymore. Thousands of people left the country in the last few years (musicians included). So there’s not much happening. It is what it is.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Disband with quiet dignity. We pay the last tribute to our fallen brother, this band is over. Crypt Of Reason was Pavel’s creation, we were just seeing it through to the end. Some of us play in other bands so you might hear from us in the future. That won’t be in the doom metal department, though.
How can people best support your band?
If something about our album resonated with you, come talk to us. We want to hear from you. There’s nothing like a real human interaction, and a “thank you” from a stranger goes a long way. Also feel free to get »Stargazer« on Bandcamp if you want to experience it in maximum quality.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
There’s so much music being released every single day. If, among all that noise, you chose to give your attention to us, just know that we’re incredibly thankful and we appreciate you. Also, for everyone who’s sad and lost: we know how it is. Keep going.
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well