

Jeff: Recently, we try to meet at least once a month to play our material. TO (Chris): Seeing that Jason and John are both in Origin, a band that is on tour for much of the year, how often were you able to meet to work on material for Crator? He helped to create the off kilter dissonance that makes these songs so unsettling and standout as something unique. We approached Colin with the idea of having complete creative freedom with his contribution to Crator and he certainly took it by the horns. Colin as you know is an innovator as well as a top notch player and audio engineer. The aspect of simply jamming created a sound that we could approach more fluidly, steering clear from any rigid structure brought on by writing parts separately. Jeff: We initially began getting together as a way to simply push our boundaries and experiment outside the confines of our respective projects. Is this a significant change from how you write in your other bands, and how did jamming together allow you to push beyond your usual comfort zones? You mentioned previously that this was mainly written in jam sessions with the bass being added afterwards. TO (Chris/Peter): Your album ‘The Ones Who Create: The Ones Who Destroy’ has the dizzying technical elements one would expect given your backgrounds, but there’s a noticeable emphasis on a darker, unsettling atmosphere as well. This was a collection of songs which were chaotic and intense but with darker feel that keeps each one connected as a single driving force, not simply a collection of fragments.

We wanted the name to somehow reflect the tone of the music. Jeff: We set on this name early on in the project. TO (Chris Dahlberg): Where does the name Crator fit in with the music you’ve created? Is there one member in particular that suggested the band name? It was clear with our combined abilities this was going to be a powerhouse of a project. Colin became part of this project shortly after John was part of Gorguts’ 2013 record ‘Colored Sands’. I met John when he first joined Skinless back in 2003 when he relocated to New York from Kansas. Jason and I were involved in the same scene since we were kids so we would often cross paths. Jeff: This is mainly a result of the metal community being small and somewhat incestuous. Transcending Obscurity (Peter Kotikalapudi): You are all part of well-known bands (Origin, Krallice etc.) How did you get together and form the band? Has everyone known each other for a while from being involved in so many different projects? We had the chance to ask some questions about how Crator came together given the busy schedules each of its members keeps, as well as find out more about the process behind the debut. Crator has the darkness and despair that is likely to attract listeners that don’t usually skew towards technical death metal, while still having some of the flashiness that fans of that style want.
Technical deathmetal plus#
Plus you have Jason Keyser’s familiar growls that stand above the instrumentals and add even more density, which helps tremendously. The first time through I was focused on the pounding drums and technical meets dissonant feel of the guitar leads, but on subsequent listens I’ve been struck by just how fluid and interesting Colin Marston’s bass work is. Each song is a flurry of fast paced riffing and adventurous bass lines that help to fill out the sound quite a bit, and the more time you spend with this album the more details that pop out at you. But with Crator, it’s clear that they have pushed each other outside of their respective comfort zones and worked to create material that emphasizes darker tonality and atmosphere as much as it does blistering technicality. There is certainly an air of familiarity to ‘The Ones Who Create : The Ones Who Destroy’, as the emphasis on blistering technical riffing and drumming are what these guys do best. Formed by Jeff Liefer ( Tentacles), Jason Keyser ( Origin, ex- Skinless), and John Longstreth ( Origin, Dim Mak, and a whole slew of other important death metal bands over the years) with Colin Marston ( Gorguts, Dysrhythmia) playing bass and working the boards, that wealth of talent is evident throughout. You’re likely to see the New York based band branded as a supergroup, though I prefer to think of them as a group comprised of metal musicians whose other projects I am a big fan of.
Technical deathmetal full#
Crator’s debut full length ‘The Ones Who Create: The Ones Who Destroy’ completely snuck under my radar when it came out back in September, coming to my attention a little over a month later thanks to a promotional push from Clawhammer PR.
