TWENTY BIG ONES with Marco Ieritano & Lewis Oliver of CRYPT CRAWLER

Shane | 27 September 2024 | Reply

TWENTY BIG ONES with Marco Ieritano & Lewis Oliver of CRYPT CRAWLER
By Shane Pinnegar

CRYPT CRAWLER play the second ELECTRIC EYE HEAVY FEST – nine hours of heavy music mayhem at Freo Social on Saturday 5th October, alongside PSYCROPTIC, PATHOGEN, SULDUSK, DYSSIDIA, SUNEATER, DYSCORD, PRIMROSE PATH, THE WEDGES and BANISHED REALM.

According to their website bio, CRYPT CRAWLER is a death metal band hailing from Perth, Western Australia, conjuring an old school sound together with a modern approach. Since their formation in 2018, they have unleashed a relentless assault of neck snapping riffs, blistering solos, technical drums and an undeniable sense of melody, cementing their place in the Australian extreme metal scene.

In 2019, CRYPT CRAWLER made their mark with the release of their debut album, To the Grave. This intense offering showcased their mastery of the genre, incorporating elements of old school death metal with modern nuances. They continued their onslaught with the release of Blood Sustenance in 2020, an EP further showcasing their ability to craft catchy hooks and merciless riffs.

CRYPT CRAWLER launched to new heights in 2021 with the release of their anticipated sophomore album Future Usurper. This offering showed their musical maturity and songwriting prowess, delving into more intricate and progressive arrangements, while maintaining their signature brand of death metal.

CRYPT CRAWLER’s blistering live performances have earnt them opportunities to support acclaimed acts including US death metal kings Obituary, Gatecreeper and Skeletal Remains, as well as playing Hammersonic 2024, the biggest heavy music festival in Southeast Asia.

CRYPT CRAWLER is:

Marco Ieritano – Vocals
Zach James – Guitar
Dan Jackson – Guitar
Cameron Gillam – Bass
Lewis Oliver – Drums

1. You’re playing Electric Eye Heavy Fest in Perth! What are you most looking forward to this time around playing in front of your home crowd on what will be part of your upcoming national tour?

Marco: We played the first edition of Electric Eye Heavy Fest last year and it was honestly one of my favourite shows we’ve played. This year is even bigger, not only in terms of venue but also the lineup, and is made even more special to us as our home state’s album launch for our upcoming record ‘The Immortal Realm’. We love our home crowd and it’s always an amazing time playing in front of them and seeing all of the familiar faces that come down, along with all the new fans we gain each time. On top of that, being able to play this show with Psycroptic is incredible, as well as the incredible array of talented national and local bands, many of whom we are proud to call our friends. Make sure to get down early for Banished Realm who are opening the proceedings!

Lewis: Perth has an amazing smorgasbord of awesome heavy bands, so it’s always great to be able to play with a whole bunch of them at a big show like Electric Eye! We’re mates with the guys and gals in Suneater, The Wedges and Banished Realm so it’s always nice to share the stage with them. Suldusk and Dyssidia from over east are coming too so I’m looking forward to seeing them, not to mention the almighty Psycroptic headlining, so it’s a belter of a show to be a part of haha. Being from Fremantle and a big fan of Otherside Brewing, having it at Freo Social is a big tick as well, so it’s set to be a sick time on all fronts for me!

2. Tell us a little about your latest release. Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material that only diehard fans might pick up on?

Marco: ‘The Immortal Realm’ was definitely more of a collaborative record this time around with a lot of the songs being written either in the jam room or altogether in my DIY home studio. Previously it was usually myself and Jordan, our former guitarist, just in front of the computer writing riffs and structuring the songs and then showing the rest of the guys and asking Lewis to overwrite our demo drums. However this time definitely felt way more organic in terms of everyone being together and ideating at the same time, in turn elevating these songs heavily in the process. There are a couple nuggets, whether hidden or not, such as ‘Gateway of Souls’ being the third track in the ‘Soul Harvester’ trilogy and the “official” name reveal of our mascot ‘Carl’ in the album’s liner notes. There’s also a bit of a narrative and lore that is forming throughout various songs and lyrics throughout our discography and will keep developing in future, however I’ll leave that one for now as I’ve got plenty of ideas for how this will be slowly revealed.

Lewis: This was the first time with writing the songs for the album that all five of us were in the room putting them together, which was great as everyone else has different ideas for things that you never would have thought of for the songs, which you can then implement in real time. For the previous releases, the songs were more or less done by the time I got to doing my drum parts for them, besides a few suggestions here and there for structure etc. So it was nice to be more involved in the crafting of the tunes, and also have a few riffs I’ve written get used too.

This was our last album writing tunes with our original guitarist Jordan Cappa, and our first with our current guitarist Dan Jackson, so it was cool and nice to have that crossover happening, and a passing of the torch for the axe-men.

This is our first time recording live drums on a Crypt Crawler studio album, which we did with Ethan MacPherson at Sumo Sound Studios in Perth. That was a lot of fun, for various reasons we got all the tracks down in two days which was a bit wild! I was really stoked on the performance and sounds we captured, which you can wrap your earholes around on the 13th of September.

3. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realised you wanted to be a musician?

Marco: Something about music has always fascinated me since I was very little, when I first started watching Rage on ABC on Saturday morning, however it wasn’t until I stumbled upon AC/DC when I was 9 years old and my uncle finding out and proceeding to give me a stack of their albums to check out. I then went through his CD and taped video cassette collection filled with 80s and 90s music videos and really started falling in love with music. Angus Young was the reason I started playing guitar, however Axl Rose made me want to be a vocalist and pick up a pen to start writing lyrics; there was something about the line “with your bitch slap rapping and your cocaine tongue, you get nothing done” that really blew my 10 year old mind haha.

Lewis: I’ve always played music, since I was little. I started on piano and played a few other instruments, but drums just really clicked with me. Me and my older brother used to jam Deep Purple tunes in the front room of our parents house, and I quickly realised you didn’t need to worry about what key you’re in or what scales to use when you’re on drums, you just had to keep in time! From then it became something I couldn’t ever see myself not doing, so I wouldn’t say it was a lightning bolt moment for me, just something I’ve always been and done.

Marco Ieritano

4. What is it about music that makes you feel passionate?

Marco: Music is honestly what I’m most passionate about in life, to the point where I would even brush my teeth while listening to music haha. Music is always there for you, no matter how you’re feeling, there is always a band, artist or genre that can be played that always makes you feel even the slightest bit better. Writing music can be even more satisfying in a way where you can really pour yourself into it and express yourself through it. Even amongst my death metal-horror inspired lyrics, there might be a reason I’ve written about something, as the deeper meaning might be there for me through layers of metaphors and storytelling. Playing that music on stage and having other people connect with it or even just being in the audience for a band I love is the ultimate highlight.

Lewis: The fact that the same song can mean completely different things to different people, even yourself at a different stage in life. It’s a way for people to express emotion and their deepest thoughts and feelings; whether by writing lyrics, the music itself or sharing or listening to a song or album that expresses how you’re feeling. It brings people together, physically for things like shows, and in the grand scheme of things too. Music is more than nice sounds to fill the silence with.

5. Who would be your main five musical influences?

Marco: My main five musical influences would have to be James Hetfield (Metallica), Chuck Schuldiner (Death), Sven de Caluwé (Aborted), John Tardy (Obituary) and David Vincent (Morbid Angel). All five of these legends have either influenced me from a songwriting, vocal, lyrical or even attitude perspective.

Lewis: Dave Grohl, Dave Lombardo, Nicko McBrain, Chris Adler and Gene Hoglan would probably be the main ingredients in the melting pot for how I approach drums and crafting my parts. Honorary mentions and shout outs to Ash Pearson, Matt Cameron, Alan Cassidy and Nick Menza too, but that would be more than five!

6. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be?

Marco: If we’re talking realistically, I would definitely try and have Sven de Caluwé (Aborted) as a guest vocalist on a track in future. Unrealistically, I would love a guest solo by Kirk Hammett (Metallica), as I personally think he has an amazing sense of note placement and melody, and has crafted some of the best and most memorable solos of all time.

Lewis: I’d love to do an album with Kurt Ballou at least mixing, I love the way he’s made the Gatecreeper records sound – especially the drums. Having Chase or Eric from Gatecreeper on a spot would be sick too! Otherwise if those emails get left on read, having some of our mates on some guest spots would be awesome – Matt, Corey or Jade from Freedom of Fear would be my first picks. We did get James Murphy on Higher Society for this album, which almost ticks that box already!

7. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

Marco: I would describe Crypt Crawler’s music as a blend of 80s/90s influenced death metal with modern nuances and sensibilities, and fans of bands such as Death, Bolt Thrower and Morbid Angel will definitely enjoy what they hear. We also add elements of progressiveness, groove and melody to our music to create our own ‘Crypt Crawler’ sound, and I also take influence from classic heavy metal bands too. The one comparison a reviewer made that made me cringe was comparing my vocals to Chuck Billy of Testament. I love Testament and Chuck has a great voice, but I don’t think I sound anything like him.

Lewis: I don’t always agree with the “old school death metal” label sometimes, and then again I do – obviously we sound like that 80s/90s era of death metal bands, but we also bring in other ideas from other eras of metal and music to make it fresh and our own. We’re certainly not retreading on ideas already established, or at least try not to, I feel.

I’d probably describe us as melodic old school death metal since Marco always wants to have hooks and memorable leads and melodies in the songs which I really dig. However the most accurate description for us would be “a really, really good and fun time.”

8. What is your favourite activity or hobby outside of music – what do you like to do to unwind?

Marco: Music and Crypt Crawler take up the majority of my time outside of working full time, however I love watching movies, especially horror films. So whenever I have spare time where my mind doesn’t gravitate to things I should be doing for the band, I love just being able to just switch off and watch a movie.

Lewis: I do a lot of reading in my spare time, unwinding for me is sitting down with a pot of tea, a book, and a Steely Dan album. That, or heading to a brewery for a tasting paddle or three.

9. Do you have a best and/or worst performance anecdote you’d like to share, and if things do go awry during a show, how do you try to turn things around?

Marco: Supporting Obituary earlier this year at the biggest Perth venue we have played, felt to me like one of, if not, our best performances, which I would definitely attribute to the stage sound and playing a “next level” stage. Also, the more people watching and the more energy in the room, completely invigorates the performance and I know that I feed off that heavily. In terms of worst performance, as musicians, we need to act as professional as possible, so regardless of how bad a situation is or if a performance is not going well, we need to be able to bring it together or ‘tactfully distract’ from what could be bringing down the performance to still give the punters a great show to remember. Especially as the front man, if we’re going through technical difficulties, I will need to find a way to keep the crowd entertained or talk to them long enough to not bore everyone waiting for something on stage to be fixed.

Lewis: Any show I’ve ever played on a boat has been “interesting” for several reasons (they didn’t plug my monitor in at the last one), and I’ve definitely had shows in other bands where you give yourself a dressing down afterwards. But all you can do in that situation is try and keep your cool and funnel that emotion into your performance – I don’t usually succeed! Haha

Our latest show in Wollongong was one of the best ones in a while for me – everything came together, sick crowd, sick venue, sick sound on and in front of stage, and we were fucking ON that night, so that one would be one to try and capture every time!

10. What’s the best piece of advice another musician ever gave you?

Marco: I found talking to Chris Monroy from Skeletal Remains about band management and labels really insightful, however probably the best advice that I have learnt, whilst not necessarily told to me directly, was from watching an interview with Sven de Caluwé from Aborted (which was actually advice given to him) where he discussed the possibility of blowing out your voice on tour and just not letting it get to you, and just realising that your voice will come back and worrying about it just makes it worse. As a vocalist, that’s always my worst nightmare, however hearing that from someone I look up to, has definitely helped ease any anxieties I have about that.

Lewis: The best piece of advice I ever heard was from Max Weinberg when he said “beat the drums like they owe you money.” The second best piece of advice was from Josh Homme; “when you expect anything from music, you expect too much. So you play for yourself, you play to enjoy it, and you make the most of it for you, period.”

11. Do you follow a process or ritual before a performance to get rid of nerves or performance anxiety?

Marco: Not really to get rid of nerves or performance anxiety, however I always make sure to do vocal warmups, along with basic stretching. If I have done those 2 things, then I am all good to go. I usually also give everyone a quick pat on the back and some words of encouragement.

Lewis: I usually run through a few rudiments on a practice pad for a bit til I’m all warmed up, then talk shit with the lads. What follows is frantically setting up the kit before Marco hands me my setlist and then we’re on! I don’t tend to get a lot of nerves playing in Crypt Crawler since we’re such a tight unit and all the other guys in the band are extremely talented and dependable musicians, so most shows tend to go off without a hitch.

12. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

Marco: Seeing Lamb of God walk past us while we were backstage at Hammersonic Festival was a very “whoa” moment for me! Chatting to Gatecreeper was also amazing, especially Chase Mason, as someone I really look up to, not only as a vocalist, but also as a designer and everything he does to give Gatecreeper the look and feel that they have. I could go on, especially adding in Obituary, however, nothing will ever beat meeting Lars Ulrich at Amplifier Bar in Perth, the night before Metallica were playing Soundwave Festival 2013. I was practically shaking when I went up to him and he was the coolest and nicest dude to me.

Lewis: When Carcass and The Black Dahlia Murder toured Australia in April, I helped out Liam Weedal from Freedom of Fear (sick band, sick dude, sick peeps) with a drum kit, and while I was packing my car at the end of the night, I had a chance to chat to Allan Cassidy from TBDM which was insane! We talked drums, blast beats and playing Nintendo Switch on tour – Everblack was a pretty big turning point for my journey with metal, so it was a big thing to chat to the man himself.

Opening for Gatecreeper was another of those moments too, obviously they’re a big influence on CC and having a chance to chat to the guys and hang before the show was awesome.

Lewis Oliver

13. What’s the best thing about being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

Marco: Creating music and playing it live is by far my favourite thing to do in life. It is an incredible amount of work, especially when managing the band and doing so much of it DIY, however the reward and payoff when everything comes together is amazing! If I could no longer be a musician, I would continue down my path as a graphic designer and try and find a way to be Metallica’s personal graphic designer haha.

Lewis: Having the chance to create music with your mates, then record and perform it, and have people come up to you who are just as stoked about what you created as you are is my favourite thing about it. The travel is nice too, in August we did a run of NSW which took us out to Wollongong and Newcastle, which being a Perth band aren’t places people from our neck of the woods tend to go.

I’m a pharmacist by day, so I’d probably be doing that! Although my dream job would definitely be a barman at a cocktail bar in the Bahamas for sure.

14. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Lewis: Based on our last band hang, Marco’s wife Jess would be doing the cooking, I’d bring the drinks since I live in the Margaret River wine region, and we’d all bring a hell of a good time.

Marco: Haha, what Lewis said above, as we consider Jess, to be the “6th member” of our band, being our photographer, videographer and does way more than she’s given credit for, including cook! Lewis will definitely be bringing the drinks. I almost think that Lewis would crack out the acoustic guitar too as he loves getting off the drumkit during a break at rehearsals and picking up the guitar. Otherwise, Zach might also crack it out and start playing ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper’.

15. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep, or you would like to be able to “do over” even if it didn’t change your current situation??

Marco: I don’t think there’s too much I would change, everything in life is a learning experience and if we didn’t make yesterday’s mistakes, we wouldn’t know how to make better choices today. Obviously it’s easy to look back and say, we should have done x or y differently, however I’m very proud of what we have achieved so far, considering we did it all ourselves.

Lewis: I wouldn’t say there’s anything I’d really change, since everything we’ve done so far has gotten us to this point and hopefully further. A lot of, if not all of that is from Marco’s work managing the band and getting all the social media, merch and logistics sorted so we can just focus on the music which is great. We chip in ideas, but he’s the guy that makes it happen.

Having said that, I’d record our livestream we did in 2021 “Transmissions From The Future” over a weekend rather than on a single Tuesday night after work like we did – that was a stressful night!

16. If you were made ruler of the world, what would your first orders be?

Lewis: Get the kettle on and bust out the Arnott’s Family Favourites, because it’s gonna be a long afternoon getting all this crap sorted out.

17. What is your favourite rock n’ roll movie, and why?

Marco: I’ll have to go with Detroit Rock City! I’m a big fan of Kiss and have loved this film since I first saw it nearly 15 years ago. I’m a big sucker for rock n’ roll and heavy metal films though, so there are plenty more close behind which I wish I could mention such as Deathgasm, School of Rock, Almost Famous etc.

Lewis: The only correct answer for this question is School of Rock – it perfectly captures being in the rock/metal scene as well as being in a band, and was a movie I watched relentlessly as a kid. This is Spinal Tap would be a very close second.

18. Talking about songwriting, where do you think the magic comes from?

Marco: I think the more and more you write music, the better you become at songwriting. Studying song structures and the way other successful bands have crafted their music, really helps too and makes you understand how to- not necessarily copy it- but apply it to what you create. It’s like studying musical theory to have the basic understanding of how music is “meant” to be written and then taking liberties with it to come up with your own version. I also think it comes down to the people you have around you – being collaborative with other people can bring out ideas that you never would have thought of yourself and I think that’s the case with ourselves. A riff might sound “just ok” by itself, but then someone adds something to it and then the drums come in and might change the vibe of the riff, and then all of that may shape the vocal patterns and all of a sudden, you’ve got something truly special.

Lewis: As I said earlier, this album was the first proper time all of us were in the room together writing the tunes, which I think is a big factor in how well they came out. Even I threw in some riffs for Shrine of Sacrifice and Gateway of Souls!

Bringing in an idea, showing it to the guys, and then them taking it somewhere you never thought it would go is where a lot of it is I think – the product ends up being greater than the sum of its parts. We all also each bring in different influences, metal or not, that the other 4 guys wouldn’t have, so using a bit of everything you have whether you think is relevant or not is where you find the better songs coming out of you as a unit, I feel.

19. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Marco: I honestly would have loved to have been present during Metallica’s self titled recording sessions. Whilst it isn’t my favourite Metallica record, I think it would have been pretty amazing to have been there during the making of the biggest heavy metal record of all time. Sonically, it’s also an amazing sounding record too and seeing all the production techniques used first-hand rather than the small glimpses we see on the ‘A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica’ documentary.

Lewis: I’d go for Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age, or any QOTSA album really – they have a really unique way of recording that would be super interesting to watch. Dave Grohl is also one of my favourite drummers, so watching him do his thing would be immense; plus the drums and cymbals were recorded separately, making those parts hit harder in the mix, so seeing how that went down would be really cool. Plus it’s an album that was a big part of the start of my drumming journey, so it means a lot to me.

20. What, for you, is the meaning of life??

Marco: Being a good person, spending time with our loved ones, experiencing the world, listening to great music, and respecting our fellow humans – everyone’s living the human experience, just because it’s different to yours, doesn’t make it any better or worse.

Lewis: Read a few good books, spend time doing things you love with the people that mean the most to you, have a good time, make time for things that matter, and try to get along with people of all nations and creeds.

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