From:    prozak@anus.com Organization:    ANUS www.anus.com To:    CrypticSlaughter@webtv.net (Cryptic Slaughter) Date:    Mon, Jul 22, 2002, 12:29pm Subject:    Re: review / interview? Priority:    normal howdy, thank you for your reply. the ANUS is not widely recognized, but we've been around for awhile and have by sheer default of personality trait focused on the bands - in general - which stimulated thought amidst the plodders. as you can tell, it seems to me that convicted was a formative record for the genre, something borne out by the number of current bands who hail cryptic slaughter as an influence. 1. do you think a generational difference exists between bands, in terms of how the thinking that inspires them to make their music changes? 2. how was music composed in cryptic slaughter? 3. do you conceive of songs as rhythms, or riff patterns, or abstract ideas or melodies? what has been for you normally the genesis of songwriting? 4. of all the thrash guitarists, your work was seemingly the most unabashedly punk in raw dynamics while having a metallish sense of arrangement. in what ways did each genre influence your songwriting? 5. what bands inspired you when you were starting out, pre- and post- convicted? 6. i could find no reference to cryptic slaughter demos anywhere on the web (the net is often useless). were there any and if so, can you give a brief demography? 7. how have your own musical tastes change through the years? 8. do you see cryptic slaughter's lyrics as having more of an aspect of the political, or as being social commentary? 9. how do you describe the music of cryptic slaughter, and do you assign it to any subgenres (thrash, crossover, metalcore)? 10. if you could do it all over again, what would you change about your discography? 11. two rumors: that your albums were to be re-released by a pennsylvania label, and that the new album will approximate "speedcore" or crustcore - can you tell me anything about these and their degrees of veracity? 12. how did the members of cryptic slaughter meet and come together? 13. was "stream of consciousness" a live or studio live album, or did it acquire its deliciously noisy production another way? 14. on the metal history page (http://www.anus.com/metal/about/history.html) metal is grouped into several waves, based on what worldview they had because of historical events current to the time of each wave. do you see a difference in the musical approach between bands of members born in approx. 1968, 1974, 1982 and 1986? 15. some musical thinkers claim to be able to visualize music as shapes or patterns, and from there conceptualize the song as an aesthetic object. how do you conceptualize sound, or is it a conscious process at all? 16. what do you think of the overall prospects for humanity given the state of our current treatment of our environment and selves? 17. what was the best part about being in cryptic slaughter during the innovative days of 1980s thrash? 18. what future directions do you see opening for people wanting to create loud, heavy, violent music? do you think the ideals that make one wish to make such music have changed, or do you see the impetus as emotional? 19. was it difficult to start a band and make it successful at such a young age? i believe you were 17 when "money talks" came out. 20. do young people today face a different world than young people of previous generations? how will this affect their music and the ideas they associate with the sounds they are making? 21. how did you learn to play guitar? 22. have you become more of a formal player as you have gained experience? 23. from who/where did the idea for the cover of "money talks" originate? 24. santa monica has always seemed to me to be a hyper-accelerated version of america in transition. did it influence the topics of early cryptic slaughter songs? 25. do you work on music full time? family? 26. do people ever beg you for re-releases of the cryptic slaughter albums? 27. now that the band has reformed, what do you aim to create in a different musical scene and perhaps style? 28. do you watch television? 29. what do you think will be the effect of mp3 files and file sharing in a music industry controlled by a few titans, but with many smaller labels and distros? 30. catch-all "did i miss anything?" and "anything you'd like to add?" question - if there is any information in those categories you would like to see published in this interview, please fill in now. i appreciate the time you will put into this, especially with some of the in-depth or probing questions and the length of the overall interview. skip any redundancies, tedium, etc. as you please. i look forward to putting this one online. thanks for many years of great music, with more to come. hails SRP From:                   CrypticSlaughter@webtv.net (Cryptic Slaughter) Date sent:             Tue, 9 Jul 2002 11:28:03 -0700 (PDT) To:                     prozak@anus.com Subject:               Re: review / interview? Hello, SRP, is it? Les here. I'd be happy to do an interview for you. That essay you wrote may have been the very first thing ever posted on the net about Cryptic. When I first read it a few years ago, I was blown away. Much thanks. I look forward to hearing back from you. OK for now.                                                                         Les -- Backup Rider of the Apocalypse www.anus.com/metal/ DEATH AND BLACK METAL 1. do you think a generational difference exists between bands, in terms of how the thinking that inspires them to make their music changes? 2. how was music composed in cryptic slaughter? 3. do you conceive of songs as rhythms, or riff patterns, or abstract ideas or melodies? what has been for you normally the genesis of songwriting? 4. of all the thrash guitarists, your work was seemingly the most unabashedly punk in raw dynamics while having a metallish sense of arrangement. in what ways did each genre influence your songwriting? 5. what bands inspired you when you were starting out, pre- and post-convicted? 6. i could find no reference to cryptic slaughter demos anywhere on the web (the net is often useless). were there any and if so, can you give a brief demography? 7. how have your own musical tastes change through the years? 8. do you see cryptic slaughter's lyrics as having more of an aspect of the political, or as being social commentary? 9. how do you describe the music of cryptic slaughter, and do you assign it to any subgenres (thrash, crossover, metalcore)? 10. if you could do it all over again, what would you change about your discography? 11. two rumors: that your albums were to be re-released by a pennsylvania label, and that the new album will approximate "speedcore" or crustcore - can you tell me anything about these and their degrees of veracity? 12. how did the members of cryptic slaughter meet and come together? 13. was "stream of consciousness" a live or studio live album, or did it acquire its deliciously noisy production another way? 14. on the metal history page (http://www.anus.com/metal/about/history.html) metal is grouped into several waves, based on what worldview they had because of historical events current to the time of each wave. do you see a difference in the musical approach between bands of members born in approx. 1968, 1974, 1982 and 1986? 15. some musical thinkers claim to be able to visualize music as shapes or patterns, and from there conceptualize the song as an aesthetic object. how do you conceptualize sound, or is it a conscious process at all? 16. what do you think of the overall prospects for humanity given the state of our current treatment of our environment and selves? 17. what was the best part about being in cryptic slaughter during the innovative days of 1980s thrash? 18. what future directions do you see opening for people wanting to create loud, heavy, violent music? do you think the ideals that make one wish to make such music have changed, or do you see the impetus as emotional? 19. was it difficult to start a band and make it successful at such a young age? i believe you were 17 when "money talks" came out. 20. do young people today face a different world than young people of previous generations? how will this affect their music and the ideas they associate with the sounds they are making? 21. how did you learn to play guitar? 22. have you become more of a formal player as you have gained experience? 23. from who/where did the idea for the cover of "money talks" originate? 24. santa monica has always seemed to me to be a hyper-accelerated version of america in transition. did it influence the topics of early cryptic slaughter songs? 25. do you work on music full time? family? 26. do people ever beg you for re-releases of the cryptic slaughter albums? 27. now that the band has reformed, what do you aim to create in a different musical scene and perhaps style? 28. do you watch television? 29. what do you think will be the effect of mp3 files and file sharing in a music industry controlled by a few titans, but with many smaller labels and distros? 30. catch-all "did i miss anything?" and "anything you'd like to add?" question - if there is any information in those categories you would like to see published in this interview, please fill in now.