Advance warning on a seriously dark new band and album from ex-These Arms Are Snakes vocalist Steve Snere. Crypts, completed by programmer Bryce Brown and visual artist Nick Bartoletti, release their self-titled debut on September 4 via Sargent House with the video for ‘Fancy’ available to check out below.
Recorded in Seattle with producer Erik Blood (the man behind Shabazz Palaces’ 2011 album Black Up), Crypts mixes weighty bass drones, chopped hip-hop and oppressive electronica which is as visceral as the early punk from which Snere takes his cues. Keep up over on the official website.
“Seattle’s noise mavenesque / EMP band of the year Crypts has signed with LA-based Sargent House Records and management. A self-titled, Erik Blood-produced album will be released some time in the fall. Also on the Sargent House roster are Russian Circles, Chelsea Wolfe, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Deafheaven, Boris, and Zach Hill & Hella. For their upcoming release, Crypts have completely changed their sound. The album is going to be comprised completely of Sonny & Cher covers, in the form of “dubstep waltzes.” Crypts just want to make happy music now, and pay homage to their strong Christian faith. (And I am completely making that up.) ” - Trent Moorman for Line Out Well the cat has been let out of the bag, so much for surprises! I am so happy to have Steve Snere and his new group Crypts join the house. Steve’s former band These Arms Are Snakes were the second band ever to join me at Sargent House back in 2006. Our fateful meeting at the Troubadour that dark and drunken night where they thought I was just some crazy woman when I said I wanted to help their band…. Only Steve believed, it took a while for the others to come on board. I’ve missed him so much, so I’m delighted to be part of his life again and to have him, Bryce and Nick join the party over here. You will be hearing a bunch about them in the coming weeks as we plan for the launch of their self-titled debut album and plan to put them out on the road to tour their crazy show across this great land. Welcome home baby. I missed you. XO / CP/ SH
Hear Crypt’s ‘Completely Fucked’: These Arms Are Snakes Frontman Goes Witchwave
Boo! Bubbling up from witch house’s crustiest cauldron come Crypts, a new project from ex-These Arms Are Snakes front-yelper Steve Snere. It’s easy to compare it to contemporary chapel-haunters like Salem or darkwave revisionists like Cold Cave thanks to the booming 808s, syrupy Houston slow rides and googaze synths. But Snere’s hardcore-fueled screeching of bloody murder makes this thing closer to “Stigmata”-era Ministry if it were shaking bloody paws with the creepier corners of 4AD. This is ultimately a punk record if Ian MacKaye was seeing purple instead of red. Don’t believe us? Hear the blistering opening track, “Completely Fucked” below, a two-minute tantrum of sultry “Moments in Love” synths meet a pile-up of gabber snares and rubbed-raw screams. by Christopher R. Weingarten DON’T MISS CRYPTS ON TOUR with Chelsea Wolfe then with Omar Rodriguez Lopez
CHELSEA WOLFE & CRYPTS 09/08 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore 09/09 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza CD Release Show also w/ Stickers 09/12 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop 09/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo also w/ Gothic Tropic
OMAR RODRIGUEZ LOPEZ GROUP & CRYPTS Oct 20, 2012 - Portland, OR @ Star Theater Oct 23, 2012 - Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s Oct 24, 2012 - Oakland, CA @ The New Parish Oct 25, 2012 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour - SOLD OUT Oct 26, 2012 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory Oct 27, 2012 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Velvet Jones Oct 28, 2012 - San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
Back in 2009, Seattle’s post-hardcore outfit These Arms Are Snakes put the kibosh on their seven-year run. In the aftermath, vocalist Steve Snere was looking for a different musical enterprise. “I needed a change of pace… to take myself out of the guitar-based rock world, he explains. Joining forces with programmer Bryce Brown and visual artist Nick Bartoletti, the trio formed Crypts, setting out to “experiment to find a sound we wanted to hear.” The dark electronic sound the three mad scientist concocted will be revealed to the world with the September 4th release of their self-titled debut via Sargent House.
As an early taste of what these boys from the Emerald City have in store, take a listen to “Territories”. Pulsating synths ripple over an eerie haze, while pounding subsonic bass keeps the rhythm for choppy, syncopated snare snaps and skittering claps. It’s a foreboding yet enticing mix, like the mist beckoning a horror film’s hapless heroine into the forest. The clearing in the forest here is the chorus, a barrage of gloom-pop color with Snere’s voice howling out as the synths swell and burst. Check it out below.For the band’s full effect, catch them on tour, where Bartoletti’s role gets fully realized as he creates a live video and light show to sync with the band’s music. As previously reported, they’re heading out on the road with Chelsea Wolfe in September. See those dates underneath the Crypts tracklist ahead. - by Ben Kaye
Crypts 2012 Tour Dates: 09/08 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore * 09/09 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza * 09/12 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop * 09/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo *
I’m not going to lie. When I first heard that Steve Snere, the vocalist of two of my favorite bands of all time, had formed a new electronic band, I groaned. In Kill Sadie and These Arms Are Snakes, Snere played a role in creating some terrific post-hardcore albums, so I expected the worse.
However, his new project Crypts (with Nick Bartoletti and Bryce Brown) absolutely shreds. A harrowing jaunt into Snere’s dark world, the self-titled Crypts comes out today on Sargent House. I caught up with the Seattle-based Snere via email for the following interview.
Geek: Crypts is a bit of a departure from These Arms are Snakes and Kill Sadie in terms of sound. Can you talk about what led you toward electronics? Steve Snere: I have been playing in loud rock bands since I was 15. At the end of Snakes I knew I needed a change. In fact I think all the guys needed a change, which was a lot to do with us putting the brakes on the group. I either wanted to do something a bit more garage-y and loose or I wanted to do something more in the vein of Suicide. I guess it went more Suicide. It has been very liberating to work in the electronic realm because it gives me a lot more hands-on musical input then the guitar-based groups I have been in. I play drums but I have never been too good at melodic instruments such as the guitar I have tried. I have always had a large influence on all my bands with ideas, mood and structure and whatnot, but now I get to have the same input but directly affect the song with noise, samples and synths.
Sargent House are the label / management company in charge of bringing And So I Watch You From Afar and Adebisi Shank to North America and for their first podcast, Ireland’s Niamh Hegarty is at the helm to return the favour by introducing some of Sargent’s roster in return.
As previously reported, Crypts is the new project of These Arms Are Snakes vocalist Steve Snere, programmer Bryce Brown, and visual artist Nick Bartoletti. In July, the trio premiered the eerie “Territories”, a single from their debut self-titled album. And today, with a little over a week before the album hits shelves, the entire eight-track effort is streaming below. As evidenced by the lead-off track, the LP is a synth-heavy blend of glitchy gloom-pop, heavy on the bass and the post-hardcore sensibilities, with stand-out tracks including “Daft” and “Smut”. - By Chris Coplan
Crypts lands in stores on September 4th via Sargent House.
DON’T MISS CRYPTS LIVE 09/08 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore * 09/09 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza * 09/12 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop * 09/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo * 10/19 - Seattle, WA @ The Triple Door # 10/20 - Portland, OR @ Star Theater # 10/23 - Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s # 10/24 - Oakland, CA @ The New Parish # 10/25 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour - SOLD OUT # 10/26 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory # 10/27 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Velvet Jones # 10/28 - San Diego, CA @ The Casbah #
“Applying a Newtonian mindset to music, former These Arms Are Snakes frontman Steve Snere, weary of the guitar-based rock world, formed electronic trio Crypts with programmer Bryce Brown and visual artist Nick Bartoletti to blast an opposite but equally powerful reaction to the 2010s rock revival. Eschewing the post-hardcore sensibilities of These Arms Are Snakes, Snere and company instead take inspiration from ‘80s industrial and goth sounds, combining harsh aggression and cold gloom with dramatic, visceral vocals. In place of a six-string are Brown’s home-modified synths and drum machines that build an ominous, all-consuming atmosphere of thick noise, subsonic bass, and glitching beats. Produced by Erik Blood (Shabazz Palaces), Crypts unearths the creeping paranoia of Alan Howarth-style synth gunk ("Completely Fucked”), the droning desperation of early-'80s Cure (“Territories”), and the nihilistic intensity of late-'80s Ministry (“Fancy”), only letting up with moments of skittering, Southern hip-hop-influenced rhythms (“Daft”). Crypts deal in musical entropy, and their sound is primed for the ultimate end-of-the-world party.“ - by Chyrsta Cherrie for All Music
"There is no shortage of quality new music available from ex-members of influential post-hardcore troupe These Arms are Snakes. Bassist Brian Cook is one-third of Russian Circles, arguably the finest post-rock band on the planet right now, and guitarist Ryan Frederiksen is part of sludge kings Narrows. Meanwhile vocalist Steve Snere has just unveiled the debut album of his new project Crypts…and it is safe to say it may not be quite what you would expect.
These Arms are Snakes were happy to tear up the rulebook but Crypts take those experimental tendencies to a whole new level. This self-titled debut album is a bit like what Nine Inch Nails might have sounded like if Trent had continued further down the dark path of “The Downward Spiral” and “The Fragile”, yet it is by no means an unoriginal album. This album is still oddly reminiscent of Snere’s previous project by means of its chaotic atmosphere, but its musical content is capable of veering impressively between dark, claustrophobic rhythms and soaring refrains such as that present on penultimate track “Bloods”. Programmer Bryce Brown, responsible for the disarming array of electronics that makes up the Crypts sound, clearly has a passion for synth-pop as well as for dark industrial noise.
CHELSEA WOLFE & CRYPTS 09/08 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore 09/09 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza CD Release Show also w/ Stickers 09/12 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop 09/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo also w/ Gothic Tropic
OMAR RODRIGUEZ LOPEZ GROUP & CRYPTS Oct 20, 2012 - Portland, OR @ Star Theater Oct 23, 2012 - Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s Oct 24, 2012 - Oakland, CA @ The New Parish Oct 25, 2012 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour - SOLD OUT Oct 26, 2012 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory Oct 27, 2012 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Velvet Jones Oct 28, 2012 - San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
