***MULTI-FACETED PROGRESSIVE ROCK / METAL BAND'S SUBLIME NEW STUDIO ALBUM 'ONCE UPON A TIME' RELEASED MAY 8TH ON STEAMHAMMER / SPV***
"Germany's Cryptex appeared on the scene in 2011, with an ambitious and fearless debut which incorporated such unconventional instruments as didgeridoo and harp.
With influences as wide-ranging as Queen, The Who and even ragtime bands, it was an enlightening recording. 'Madeleine Effect' is another quirky collection of songs that torpedoes the timeworn theory of difficult second albums. Conceptually thoughtful, the lyrics deal with the process by which memories are triggered in the brain – which admittedly has the air of pretentious twaddle but in this setting works well….Cryptex prove that they're a highly capable band with a pleasing eye for bizarre rhythms and melodies."
(Rich Wilson, Prog Magazine April 2015.)
Inventive, distinctive German progressive rock / metal group Cryptex have signed with Steamhammer / SPV to release 'Once Upon A Time' their irrefutably excellent third album, on May 8th as a digipak CD, red with black swirls 140 gram vinyl LP, download and stream. Packed with unpredictable time changes and a host of genius musical moments, 'Once Upon A Time', Cryptex's most emotional, profound and uncompromising piece of work yet, is a swaggeringly diverse, mesmeric delight.
It is this well-balanced mixture of strong hooks, catchy melodies and a plethora of artful facets that have kept Cryptex so unusual and unique since their formation in 2008. "During our debut we were wild, impetuous and reckless, full of euphoria. Our second album sounded bulkier, a bit constipated and withdrawn", founder, vocalist and keyboardist Simon Moskon reminisces, looking back on a history of over 250 concerts in 23 European countries and support tours with bands like Pain Of Salvation, Threshold and Alice Cooper, let alone their US shows and the band's own headline tours. "'Once Upon A Time' builds on our first album but with a lot more experience under our belts - as human beings but also as musicians and composers. You can hear that the new songs are created in a much more organic and liberal way, made of an endless number of colourful dots. That's what makes this record so exciting."
Check out the opulent video (featuring actors, real life wolves and magical landscapes) for 'Bloodmoon', the potent, atmospheric first single from the album, for an exhilarating aural soupcon.
Cryptex, a virtuoso trio comprised of multi-instrumentalist Simon Moxon, bassist / co-lyricist Marc Andrejkovits and guitarist André Jean Henri Mertens, enlisted consummate drummer Simon Schröder to put down 'Once Upon A Time'.
Cryptex, who describe the consummate songs on 'Once Upon A Time', as "unrestrained, autobiographic psychograms full of ambivalent feelings and approaches in self-reflection", are indubitably set to win over hordes of new fans worldwide with this astonishing, arresting, inspired album.