THIS WEEK I’M LISTENING TO...CRYPTEX ‘Good Morning, How Did You Live?’ (SAOL)

Following a self-released EP ‘Even Nature Will Be Thrilled’ in April 2008, German progressive metallers Cryptex started amassing material for their debut album. ‘Good Morning, How Did You Live?’ duly appeared in March 2011, and to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of its release the album has been spruced up for a limited edition coloured vinyl re-issue.

Recorded by the then three-piece line-up of Simon Moskon (bass, vocals and keyboards), Martin Linke (guitars and vocals) and Ramon Fleig (drums and vocals) – the line-up has changed over the years with Moskon the only consistent member – aided and abetted by a number of guest musicians fleshing out the orchestration, ‘Good Morning, How Did You Live?’ is an extremely fluid release which encompasses a wide range of engaging styles and influences. My review elsewhere of last year’s ‘Once Upon A Time’ album indicated that Cryptex weren’t a band easily confined within the limitations of any labels or throwaway pigeon-holing, and ‘Good Morning...’ proves that that’s been their intention right from the start. It’s heavy, it’s funky, it’s accessible without losing its bite, and at times it’s completely off-beat (and all the better for it, too). It is, in fact, everything you’d really want – and expect – from such an inventive and creative band. Top tip (at the moment, at least) would be the beautifully-structured and almost Zeppelin-like ‘Leviathan’ which, in a genre in which more is generally more, clocks in at a trim but punchy sub-three minutes. But there’s so much to discover on this album that it should come with an atlas rather than a lyric sheet. Definitely a record album to savour...

Video clip (the title says it all!): ‘The Big Easy’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkveHwDrKu0

© John Tucker October 2021