SCEPTOCRYPT
Band Vision 2014 & 2022
including bio 1992-1999
The original Sceptocrypt formed on the island of Malta in 1992.
A band from the smallest European nation yet with big intentions – to forge a sound distinctively its own, an extreme metal (at a time where the tag was not yet penned to define bands cross-bordering death, doom, black metal and more) looking out of its own box (embracing non-metal styles, but without loosing its abrasive edge!), its members ardently into the 90s underground scene running Rancid Soup zine & radio show, and music scholars alike, always keen for original sounds, as inspirations and as their own.
Releasing only a demo & a rehearsal tape in its timespan to 1999, Sceptocrypt’s idea was received warmly by the leading press of the time – like Aardschock (NL), Fight Amnesia (DE), Ill Literature (USA), Koito (IT), MorticiaNumskull (NL), Dusk Woerot (Colombia), Death Bite (Lith), Fanfare (BE), Brutalism.com (NL), Eternal Darkness (USA), etc. – with worldwide reviews as
- “demo of the month”
- “one of the best demos of 1996”
- “ALL labels interested in progressive extreme metal please check in with Sceptocrypt”
- “not your everyday kind of metal”
- “a hell of a musical masterpiece”
- “one of the most brilliant demotapes I have heard in years”
- “Sceptocrypt have good solutions for their music, something that the majority of underground bands have not”
- “don’t know where to put this band in, maybe a big positive plus-point for them”
- “recommended for a zine editor with 5000 bands yet no-one sounding like Sceptocrypt”
- “such different and sophisticated music”.
There was also label interest back then. Some, like Holy Records (FR), defined Sceptocrypt as “experimental music, very well structured, unbelievable!!!”, whereas non-metal label Bliss Records (UK) opined that “death metal usually does absolutely nothing for me, but Sceptocrypt are more melodic, innovative and original than I was expecting”.
Others, in turn, were interested to hear more, so much so that Sceptocrypt self-financed and recorded a full-length !26 Hrs 72 mins …. the need to differ) in 1999.
Sadly, bad luck stroke, and Sceptocrypt disbanded later that year due to a string of adverse effects (including financial), with this CD never released or promoted to any label/zine. In fact, apart from some tracks featuring in compilations (Underground Media, Ematofagia, and Mass Metal), only few close contacts had listened to the whole !26 Hrs 72 Mins …. the need to differ) when it was recorded. But this was mended later in 2014 when it was made available for all at our Bandcamp, also to co-incide with the an attempt to revive Sceptocrypt yet again with a different sound, this time in London (where Malcolm now resides)! Not being able to complete a line-up, this was put on ice in 2015.
Despite all odds, the idea of reviving Sceptocrypt never left founding member Malcolm, and since late 2022 he resumed jamming some of the 2014 songs & newer ideas with different musicians, with near to 2 LPs running time of new music now under Sceptocrypt’s belt! The first teaser of these was shared in early 2024 in the form of a 12min+ track The Wards Outside. Exploring Antonin Artaud released from a mental asylum and asking if it was him or society that was going doolally, in a way Sceptocrypt found itself back in a music industry that operates differently than we left it. So let’s see where this goes.
In the interim, a newer song The Unwanted Requiem was composed, recorded & released in Nov 2023, a bit different than our usual sound, but then again, we like to surprise.
Want to hear more of this new sound we are calling Extreme Music Research? Follow our socials for more info!
A full line-up is being sought to present Sceptocrypt’s new sound both live & on record!
press@sceptocrypt.com to interview/ review us.
band@sceptocrypt.com for record labels interested in preliminary song demos OR if you are a London-based musician who wants to join the band (read more here )
soundcloud.com/sceptocrypt for downloading our discography!
SCEPTOCRYPT – 2014, London
Away from Malta and travelling around, Sceptocrypt’s founder and main composer Malcolm “Gool” Callus always knew in his heart that at some point he would have to find a place to call home, to put at rest an idea that has never abandoned him – to re-launch Sceptocrypt!
In 2007, he moved to London, becoming prolifically active with an avant-garde world music band EthnaMorte. Yet, as a fan he never stopped following extreme metal (you can here check his post-Sceptocrypt pre-Ethnamorte metal bands) & other forms of extreme music, especially bands with something fresh to offer!
So when drummer Adriano Ferraro – himself an exponent of many a metal style with his works for Eyes Of Solitude (funeral doom), Nebukadnezza (thrash/grind), Cythraul (old school death metal), and Justonefix (groove-laden hardcore/death metal) – asked Malcolm to form an all-encompassing extreme metal band with something new to say, it was agreed that together they shall give birth to a new Sceptocrypt beast.
Rehearsals starting late August 2014, it seemed that Malcolm’s 15 yrs+ teaching guitar, bass & music theory in different genres was waiting for Adriano’s ferocity to blast through something extreme! Ideas flowed seamlessly from a myriad of music influences both had been subject to, subsequently put into form of 6 songs (60 mins and counting) in less than 2 months.
With plenty of twisted riffs and unexpected changes at the core of this new sound being tagged as “extreme music research”, 2014 brings Sceptocrypt’s re-incarnation in the heart of good ole Londinium town, England! Still meant to sound nihilistic & adversary without replicating Sceptocrypt 92-99 (after all, the world has gone through 15 years of new musical discovery), Sceptocrypt look forward to present new music in 2015! Our manifesto is as follows
Extreme – undettered by trying different forms of experimentation, from over-the-top technical riffs to the lack of same in form of time & harmonic changes that flow seamlessly, an extremity measured in the myriad of influences recalled to shape the final aural palette.
Music – in a time when visual media continually compliments the music industry, we aim to present you music that evokes you the more you close your eyes, aiding you to see colours with your ears, where colour has no limit set by your visual spectrum, and thus extreme!
Research – we shall be free to research past effective music templates as we merge them with/as merchants to/for future sounds
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SCEPTOCRYPT – 1992-1999, Malta
Since Sceptocrypt’s inception in 1992, its members had, through their activity in the 90s underground scene running Rancid Soup zine & radio show, been listening to loads of bands, most lending off each others’ ideas & others with something new to say. More attracted by the latter than the former, Sceptocrypt went on to forge a sound distinctively its own – an extreme metal looking out of its own box (including non-metal styles), a spike-in-the-wheel if you choose.
Past the early years to solidify its line-up, they started gigging, with Sceptocrypt supporting Anathema (the first underground band ever to play Malta) in ’95, and releasing its debut demo Wild Code of Reverie in ’96, received as “Demo of the Month” by the famous Dutch mag AARDSCHOK and moreover, as “one of the best demos of ’96” in the German FIGHT AMNESIA! Not to mention the countless others, not only from the death metal field.
With this feedback at heart, Sceptocrypt engaged in a change of line-up through ’96, soon thereafter recording Oratorio Mortem, a track merging baroque classical music with obscure chordal echoes and acoustic interludes that burst into a frenzied metal climax, supported by violin, bass and soprano vocals along the way. This track featured in a number of underground compilations (The Core of Creation, Amber, Psoriasis Prigg, etc.) all through ’96 and ’97.
In 1997, the band recorded a rehearsal tape Poor Crows, Give ‘Em A Deal, for press and media only. Despite its recording limitations (recorded mostly on a 4-track at their own rehearsal space), this promo achieved another myriad of stunning reviews from as varied a spectrum as underground zines to some record labels, and from non- metal publications to a London College of Music & Media software programmer, namely Pete Farrugia, stating:
“The tape is very impressive, especially considering how it was recorded. I am still astonished by the erudite multi-lingual lyrics and I also have a picture in my mind that live performances by the band could be accompanied by visual images projected onto a screen. The music is so expressive that it suggests different images whenever I listen to it.”
Cross-cultural appreciation always at its heart, Sceptocrypt were a constant mark on Malta’s live calendar back in the 90s, appearing from all-out metal gigs to all-day music marathons, ever so keen to make both non-metal fans curious to explore extreme metal, as much as getting extreme metal fans to explore the unexpected!
With this constant urge to break musical boundaries, Sceptocrypt composed Amaranth so Puissant, a 32 minute work divided into 4 acts, with avant-garde classic, flamenco, latin and gothic arrangements flowing in and out of its extreme metal sonority. Lyrically, it followed an artist’s life from as soon as the radiant force of Art twists inside of him to when he finds the satisfaction within himself of a work completed – this through worlds of darkness, loss, hope, and satisfaction – till he meets the receiver of his world (in a musical world, the fan) who encourages him and serves as the vessel to make the Art shine. A modest live recording (with a 90s underground sound) of all 4 acts can be heard at our BandCamp.
With some of its lyrics featuring in a media expo After Hours, Amaranth was performed live both in its entirety, and as its opening Act I : The Planting, itself 10 mins long, and scheduled to appear but as the closing act of a forthcoming debut full-length.
Which came in 1999, when Sceptocrypt entered Farmhouse Studios to record !26 Hrs 72 Mins …. the need to differ). Featuring 6 songs spread over 64 mins, it was recorded by prog-rock aficionado & film scorer Paul Zammit Cutajar on a 64- track soundboard. With female & soprano vocals, flute & sampling complimenting Sceptocrypt’s core members, the resulting sound surpassed anything ever done before by Sceptocrypt, both stylistically and soundwise!
Sadly disbanding later that year due to a string of adverse effects, this CD was never released nor promoted to any label/zine. In fact, apart from some tracks featuring in compilations (Underground Media, Ematofagia, and Mass Metal), to date the only few to have listened to the whole !26 Hrs 72 Mins …. the need to differ) were close contacts who have been supplied a copy back in 1999.
Now available to all in 2014 at our Bandcamp, feel free to share it with your friends! Thank you!
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Discography :
‡ Wild Code of Reverie (debut demo ’96)
‡ Oratorio Mortem (compilation only track ’97)
‡ Poor Crows, Give ‘Em A Deal (reh. promo ’97)
‡ Amaranth so Puissant Act 1 to 4 (live recording ’97)
‡ !26 hrs 72 mins ….the need to differ) (unreleased CD ’99)
‡ Oratorio Mortem 2 : The Unwanted Requiem) (single 2023)
‡ The Wards Outside (single 2024)
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Sceptocrypt is currently seeking a drummer, a vocalist & a synth player (or a guitarist who can double on synth guitar), to complete the line-up.
Songs are quite ready to go live, but we nevertheless welcome new band members to come dissect and re-build how they sound now, so that way we shall together build a more organic sound, which will hopefully in time be received with ardent fervor.
If interested to join, please send us any demoes/videos of yours (+ your mobile number) to band@sceptocrypt.com
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Current members :
Malcolm “Gool” Callus : founder, guitars & backing vocals 1992-1999, 2014 – 15, 2022-
Dip Roy : bass 2023
Andrea Paro : noize & synths 2023
Former members :
Vocals : Marcello Scarpello (co-founder) 1992-93; James Sciberras (also logo designer) 1993; Conrad Borg (also keyboards) 1993-99; Giselle Debattista 1997-99
Guitar: Jason Abela 1992-96; Etienne Camilleri 1996-98; Alan Bartolo 1999
Bass : Marco Spiteri 1992-96; Johann Tabone 1996-99
Drums : Steve Camilleri (co-founder) 1992; Joseph Cremona 1992-1994; Maurizio Schembri 1995; Antoine Ferrito 1996-99; Jason Mifsud 1999; Adriano Ferraro 2014 – 15
Recording contributors 1992-99 :
Linsey Frendo, violin, 1996
Paul Camilleri, male bass vocals, 1996
Pauline Longo, soprano vocals, 1996
Charmaine Cortis, soprano vocals, 1997
Claire Debono, soprano vocals, 1999
Gordon Zammit, flute & samples, 1997, 1999
Live guests 1992-99 :
Joseph Chetchuti, violin, 1995
Charmaine Cortis, soprano vocals, 1996
Rex Grech Santucci, growls & tambourine, 1996
Nicole Farrugia, soprano vocals, 1997
Lyrical contributors on Isegoria 2000 (1997 & 1999) :
Albert Bell, Maltese & English lyrics
Fr Valentine, Latin translations
Katerina, Ancient Greek & German translations