Cryptic Slaughter

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Cryptic Slaughter was a crossover thrash / hardcore punk band from Santa Monica , California .

Band history

Cryptic Slaughter was founded in 1984 by Les Evans (then 17 years old), Scott Peterson (then 14) and Adam Scott (then 15), who knew each other from their joint participation in the American Youth Soccer League (AYSO). Shortly after they were founded, they were joined by Bill Crooks (then 15), a friend of Adam and Scott and also a soccer player. Adam Scott left the band after a few months due to conflicts with his parents and at school.

Their first demo, Life in Grave , was recorded in 1985 and quickly caught on in the burgeoning tape trading scene. Their first LP, Convicted , was released in 1985 on Death / Metal Blade Records , which also includes bands like DRI , Corrosion of Conformity , Dr. Know , The Mentors, and Beyond Possession . Convicted sold over 25,000 copies within the first year and earned Cryptic Slaughter the reputation of being one of the fastest hardcore bands of the time. Her next album, Money Talks , was released in 1987 and is considered by many fans as the Best Cryptic Slaughter Album. By mixing merciless guitar riffs with extreme speed, the success of Money Talks even exceeded that of its predecessor Convicted with 35,000 copies sold within the first year.

The original line-up recorded their last studio album called Stream of Consciousness in 1988 . Since the band was dissatisfied with the progress of the recording and the results of the studio work, the problems within the band were further exacerbated. They split on tour the summer before the album was released and gave their last concert in Detroit on July 14, 1988.

Shortly after they returned from the tour, guitarist Les Evans and bassist Rob Nicholson were looking for a new member. Eli Nelson joined the band and Cryptic Slaughter continued their work but went in a different direction musically. This new line-up did not last and Les Evans moved to Portland in May 1989 to re-establish the band with completely new members. One of these new members was Brian Lehfeldt from the band "Wehrmacht". The last Cryptic Slaughter album called Speak Your Peace , strongly influenced by a changing music scene, went musically in a completely different direction than the previous releases.

Cryptic Slaughter, along with bands like DRI and Corrosion of Conformity, are often referred to as one of the pioneers of Crossover Thrash, a mixture of Thrash Metal and Hardcore Punk.

In 2003 Relapse Records brought out re-releases of Convicted and Money Talks with bonus tracks consisting of demo tracks and live recordings.

Members

  • Bill Crooks - vocals, 1984–1988
  • Dave Hollingsworth - vocals, 1989–1990
  • Les Evans - electric guitar, 1984–1990
  • Rob Nicholson - electric bass, 1984–1988
  • Bret Davis - electric bass, 1989–1990
  • Scott Peterson - drums, 1984–1988
  • Brian Lehfeldt - drums, 1989–1990
  • Adam Scott - 1984-1985

Discography

Demos

  • "Life in Grave" (1985)

EPs

Studio albums

  • "Convicted" (1986, Metal Blade Records )
  • "Money Talks" (1987, Metal Blade Records)
  • "Stream of Consciousness" (1988, Metal Blade Records)
  • "Speak Your Peace" (1990, Metal Blade Records)

useful information

  • Napalm Death covered "Lowlife" on their 2004 album "Leaders Not Followers: Part 2" and "MAD" on their album " Scum " .
  • Bassist Rob Nicholson played with Rob Zombie as Mr. Blasko for a while and now plays bass for Ozzy Osbourne .
  • The power violence band Spazz covered "MAD" on their 1997 album "La Revancha" .
  • "Lowlife" was featured in the soundtrack for the video game "Tony Hawk's Project 8".
  • A copy of the album "Convicted" can be seen in the pilot for the series 21 Jump Street in the hands of Johnny Depp .
  • Cryptic Slaughter are mentioned in the book "Sound of the Beast, the Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal" .
  • The grindcore band Catheter covered "Lowlife" on their split with Birdflesh.

Web links