User:Deadworld/draft article on The Krypt

The Krypt was a gothic, horror heavy metal band from Bethesda, MD. The bands gothic piano melodies, thrash metal driven guitars, King Diamond-esque vocals, horror movie makeup effects, demonic looks, and overall sepulchral stage atmosphere set it apart from all other bands at that time.

The Tumultuous Birth
The Krypt started as an idea in 1987 from the mind of front man and keyboardist, Ralis Kahn. At the age of 18, Ralis, an artist, keyboardist, and singer, was going to art school in Florida while performing in his thrash band called Chaos. He would design the band flyers, which always depicted the band members as demonic creatures playing onstage, even though, in reality, they were just teenage kids in jeans and t-shirts. His dream was to make that demonic band a reality.

The genesis of the idea actually came from his love of horror movies and the Charlie Daniels Band song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". When he was 10, Ralis heard that song and loved the imagery of the part where the devil is playing his fiddle and "a band of demons joined in and it sounded something like this". That was rocking!!! And the devil blew away Johnny. But NOOOOO, the Devil was robbed, and never got his due. But the idea of a band of demons stuck with him for life.

The name "The Krypt" came from a friends guitar case which had "The Crypt" written on it in creepy letters. Ralis thought it was a great name; a place where there be demons! The Krypt!

With school not living up to expectations, Ralis moved to Maryland at the behest of a family friend who was willing to rent him a room cheap! When he arrived, he placed ads in Maryland Musician and Roxx Magazine where he found the Krypt's first drummer, Dale Cord, who listed King Diamond, Racer X and Cacophony as influences. From those same ads he then found guitarist John Winner who was into Merciful Fate and Metallica, and lead guitarist Troy ??? who was into Randy Rhodes and Malmsteen! He finally rounded out the band with bassist Tom Leal who liked Fates Warning, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Slayer.

Because it had taken so long to find other thrash metal musicians who would: 1) work with a keyboard player and 2) wear prosthetic makeup and costumes, Ralis had put that time to good (demonic) use writing material for an entire concept album. At the time, he had no idea how he was going to pull it off, but he had a vision and the determination to see that vision become a reality.

They rehearsed, wrote more material, fine tuned the existing concept, and hung out together on a continuous basis, while Ralis delved into the mysterious and terrifying world of prosthetics and special effects makeup.

Making the Monsters (Prosthetics and Costumes)
One day Ralis walked into a local video store and the kid behind the counter was fashioning a latex cut on his arm. Ralis said "Hey! Do you know how to do prosthetic make up?" The kid said he did, and would teach Ralis only charging for materials! Ralis soon realized that the kid really didn't know what he was doing after many failed attempts at life casting, one of which burned his face. Who uses straight plaster on a face!?!? Additionally, the kid wasn't much good as a sculptor, so Ralis sculpted the appliances, and the kid made the molds and cast up the pieces.

The Krypt's fist show was at the Paragon in College Park, Maryland, during the summer of 1988. At the gig, the kid was putting the band in makeup and the coloring looked really bad: all muddy and grey. Ralis watched him at work and the kid kept flipping the jars of makeup over to look at the underside. Ralis was perplexed. so he looked, and on the underside of each jar the kid had written in the name of the color. The kid was colorblind!!!! He had the basics to sculpt and make molds and all the theory. but could not apply the make up, so Ralis jumped in to help.