A Band from a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

There are many legends that galaxy far, far away. legends that took place a long time ago. This is one of those Legends... 

Around 200,000 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin) on Korriban, the original Sith species first encountered the Dark Side of the Force emanating from a cavern known locally as "Ecryptus," a place not unlike Earth's "Dark Castles" in Iceland, or "Mount Doom" of Middle Earth... The Emperor Palpatine, himself conscripted four warriors to become his most brutal team of covert assassins, training them in the dark arts of the Sith. We took the name to pay homage to the primordial manifestation of the Dark Side, and strike fear into the enemies of the Empire! On their way back from destroying an Enterprise class Federation starship masquerading as an exploration mission in the Outer Rim, their Hyperdrive motivator was damaged, and they became stranded on the archaic Earth system. In the meantime, they bring their campaign of terror to the primitives of this planet in the form of brutal sonic tomes from the Canon Arcane! They are Lord Crypt on Dark Saber and Incantations, Lord Tenebris on Force Thunderbolts, and Lord Blastion on Ion Cannons.

Mike Michalski aka Lord Crypt of Ecryptus describes the band sound as “Epic, grinding, Galactic Death Metal full of blast beats, and just technical enough to be fun to play and listen to. It's the sound of light sabers clashing and ripping through rebel scum!”

Ecryptus’ influences range from film composers to rock and metal gods to raw death metal. John Williams, “his work lives rent free in my mind.” Say Mike. “I'm also a huge fan of Clint Mansell Clint Mansell. Guitarists sych as Trey Azagthoth, Eddie Van Halen, and Rob Vigna from Immolation. As well as death metal bands like Morbid Angel, old, aggressive death metal and death grind.

In asking how the legend of Ecrytpus came about and how Star Wars fits into the band, Mike says other than our character bio... I've been asked often why we went with Star Wars as a theme, and some ask as if it were something that they couldn't take seriously beyond a gimmick. I set out to treat Star Wars as a source material in the way countless bands use Tolkien or Viking mythology. Our tracks highlight the more dark and macabre scenes in the films, video games, and ‘Legends’ lore that we call the Canon Arcane. Most bands that are "Star Wars" themed just play covers of John Williams.”

A fact about the band is that they have been on hiatus for a few years. The reason was due to the loss of a member. “It was the right time. All our momentum was stopped suddenly in 2022 with the loss of our brother, and one of the best drummers I've ever seen perform, Danny Ryann (Dann Solo).” Mike goes on, “we were grieving not only the loss of our band, but one of our oldest friends as well. This happened just a little more than a month after the release of our last EP... on SBDC Records. All our plans... came to a halt.” While taking a break, Mike was playing bass at a show in another band where he ran into Scott Belcher. “There are few people I even know that could play anything close to what Danny recorded, much less anyone that is chill enough to get along with us.” Says Mike. “Danny wouldn't have wanted us to stop, and I feel like he is coming right along with us as a Force spirit!”

How did Ecryptus really form? No one really knows but, it’s like the saying goes, “When legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

Ecryptus will be playing the Blast Beats & Brews festival on Saturday April 26th. Tickets are on sale now. Go to https://www.blastbeatsandbrews.com/ for tickets and information.

You can follow Ecryptus online in all the usual places:

Bandcamp: https://ecryptus.bandcamp.com/

Spotify: Ecryptus

IG: @ecryptus

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ecryptus

YouTube: Ecryptus #encryptus #metal #starwars #thrash #heavymetal #scifi