Starting off Counter Culture’s Time Capsule: A Month of Tributes was Kryptos. The boys from Bengaluru were to do a tribute to classic metal. Traditionally I’ve stayed away from tribute shows because I’ve almost always had fairly poor experiences. However, this show was different. One would expect the standard crowd-pleasing songs that the radio plays in the name of heavy metal, but the band chose an unexpected set list and executed the same to near perfection. They kicked off the night with UFO’s Doctor Doctor. I did not see that coming. Like most metal crowds, the audience stayed away from the stage with their hands folded in an almost judgmental way. But by the end of the first song, everyone was up and front head banging away.
The band was very tight. Even more than what they are when it comes to their own songs. The lead guitar was spot-on along with the drumming that never missed a beat. There is always a big advantage when a band has two people who can handle vocal responsibilities. It allows a lot of room for harmonizing vocals that sound absolutely killer when it comes to chorus pieces.
The band went on to cover songs from artists like Sodom, Judas Priest (thankfully not Breaking the Law) and even Billy Idol. The band did a tight job with Metallica’s Four Horsemen, Grim Reaper’s See you in hell and Iron Maiden’s Bring your daughter to the slaughter (which they dedicated to all the people looking for partners on bharatmatrimony.com). Keeping in tune with the main theme for the evening which was a tribute to Black Sabbath by Bevar Sea, Kryptos played the Sabbath (namely James Dio) classic Children of the sea as well.
Kryptos went on to play some of their original material by which time they had the crowd head banging to anything they played. Their set ended with the Kryptos original and audience favourite Mask of Anubis. It was the perfect start to the evening and set the mood really well for the next band to take over. If I had to pick holes in the performance, the band didn’t play anything from Megadeth. But then, that’s just me being picky. A super tight performance made even better by a much unexpected set list that covered some of the best that classic metal had to offer. Two thumbs up for Kryptos.
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