Despite a few shake-ups in the band’s line-up, ‘The Silver Key’ sees Crystal Viper continuing to build upon the strengths of its 2021 predecessor ‘The Cult’. This includes a return to the H.P. Lovecraft-inspired themes in the lyrics.

“We didn’t plan it”, singer and bassist Marta Gabriel confesses. “When I finished composing ‘The Cult’, I simply kept on reading Lovecraft’s stories. He wrote so many awesome stories. And I recently discovered that he even wrote poems. So when ‘The Cult’ was released, I decided that the next album would also be inspired by Lovecraft, because I was still in this state of mind created by his stories. It came out very naturally for me.

Most of the songs on the new album are inspired by his stories. And some of them are inspired by sounds that came to my mind after reading them. For example, there is one song on the album that isn’t actually inspired by a specific story; it’s inspired by one of my dreams. When I woke up, I realized I had a dream that was kind of like those Lovecraft stories. After that, I wrote the lyrics for ‘Cosmic Forces Overtake’.

We actually played just played that one live. When we were deciding on the setlist for Crystal Viper live performances for this year, I wasn’t sure if ‘Cosmic Forces Overtake’ was a good choice to play live. It’s super fast, probably the fastest song on the album, and I didn’t expect such a fast song would be so fun to play live. We gave it a try, and now we need to play this song every single time. The audience were having so much fun with it as well.”

Climate of a Song

Despite the lyrical subject matter staying the same, Crystal Viper actually went through quite some changes since ‘The Cult’ was released. Most notably on the album, the band has a new drummer in Kuba Galwas. “That made a huge difference”, Gabriel says. “When I compose music, I always add bass and drums as well when I’m preparing demo versions for the guys in the band. I try to record everything the best I can. And I’m not a drummer, but I always try to program drums in a way that the drummer will know what the climate of the song is.

But it wasn’t like I sent the drum tracks to Kuba and said: alright, you need to play it exactly that way. It wasn’t like that. I just showed him what the song was about when it came to drums, and all of the magic you can hear on the album is his job. He’s a super talented drummer, so we are really happy that we have him on board. Also, he’s such a cool guy.

The most interesting thing is that he lives only about three minutes from me by car, so we actually see each other very often, Kuba, Andy (Wave, guitarist) and me. We just meet for a coffee, or just to talk. Sometimes we plan to play something together, then we start talking, and there’s no playing, haha! You know how it goes when you meet with your friends.”

Like the Old Times

Speaking of Andy Wave: when ‘The Cult’ was released, there was some uncertainty whether he could stay in Crystal Viper or not. “He was changing work”, Gabriel nods. “And there were many changes in general in his life, so he had many different things to sort out. But he sorted them out, and now it’s like in the old times again.

Andy has been in Crystal Viper from the very beginning. We first met in 2006, and I will never forget our first meeting, when he grabbed a guitar and started playing it. Immediately, I thought: this guy is amazing! This is exactly what we need! Since then, we started playing together in the same band.

Andy is a super talented guitarist. You can give him the most crappy guitar that you can find, and he will sound amazing. He has this specific sound in his own hands, a specific style of playing. So it’s not a lie when people sometimes ask me who my favorite guitarists are; my answer is always Glenn Tipton and Andy.”

Wave isn’t the only guitarist left in the band, however. Second guitarist Eric Juris recently left the band after six years of service over scheduling conflicts with his session work, but he has quickly been replaced by Italian guitarist Giuseppe Taormina. “We already played the first two shows with him”, Gabriel says. “I really hope that he feels at home in Crystal Viper, because we really enjoy playing with him.”

Bleeding Throat

“For many years, we were talking about ideas for songs, and some of us suggested trying blastbeats and growls on a next album. On this album, I actually growl for the first time in my life, haha! It wasn’t planned, but we had just finished vocals for ‘Fever of the Gods’, and when we were listening to what I recorded, I said something was missing at the very end of the song. I said: a growl or something would be perfect in this very moment. And the guys said: okay, so go and try!

I went back into the recording room, they played me the song, and I just went: rahhhh! It was the very first take, and you can hear it on my album. It was the very first time in my life I ever tried to do that. I mean… I tried it before, but I was kind of doing it the wrong way. I was feeling like my throat was bleeding.

After that, when the album was mixed, and we were listening to the songs, I was thinking very seriously whether I would be able to repeat that live. Because I didn’t even think of that when we were recording it in the studio. But I did it a few weeks ago at a live show in Germany, so I think I can do it. Maybe I will learn some new things to do with my voice.

I think you can hear influences from bands like Cannibal Corpse, Dissection, Deicide, Deströyer 666, Nifelheim… I listen to these bands. Actually, it would be super cool to play in a band like this in the future. Not as a singer, but as a bassist or a guitarist. I don’t think I will ever be a death or black metal vocalist. But I would like to play this kind of music. If there is someone looking for a bass player, here I am!”

All the Craziest Recordings

‘The Silver Key’ is the first Crystal Viper album that credits Gabriel as the bass player. However, the recordings have not actually been Gabriel’s first bass recordings for the band. “Actually, I recorded a lot of bass for Crystal Viper”, she explains. “I recorded a lot of bass parts when our former bass players couldn’t make it. So I recorded bass guitar for this album, for ‘The Cult’, I also recorded bass guitar for the ‘Possession’ album, if I remember correctly, for my solo album, for Moon Chamber, for Blazon Stone…

There is probably more; I actually did more bass than guitar recordings, though not more than piano recordings. My bass is an LTD Surveyor ’87. At the moment, it’s my favorite bass guitar. It sounds absolutely beautiful. Another reason why I like it is that the color was snow white in the beginning, but I have had it for a couple of years now, and it’s starting to turn kind of yellow-ish. It looks very, very old school. Like a very old bass. That’s also the bass I used to record the new album with, but all the craziest recordings I did on my B.C. Rich Revenge Warlock.

On stage, I might actually only be using a DI box with my bass. When we were playing on Full Metal Cruise, I had my bass amp with me, but it broke right after plugging it in. That was before the first of our three shows there. Fortunately, a tech brought me a DI box, and my bass sounded amazing through it.”

Hamster with a Hamburger

Gabriel’s connection with LTD actually started when she was still playing guitar in Crystal Viper: “A few years ago, we were coming back from a live show in Spain. Back then, I was playing Dean guitars; I had two great Dean V guitars. But when we came home, my guitar was completely destroyed. I don’t know what happened to it, but when I opened the case, it was obvious that it wouldn’t be possible to repair it.

So I had to buy new, pretty decent guitars for upcoming live shows, and we didn’t actually have much time for it. So my husband and I went to one of our local music stores, simply looking for something pretty good. And then I found my LTD MH-350FR. Out of all the guitars I have, that’s still my favorite one. It felt like it was crafted specially for me, for my hands. We bought it, and right now, I only play on LTD guitars and basses. I have an endorsement with them.”

The size of the instrument is important, because Gabriel’s hands aren’t exactly large. “No, they are not!”, she laughs. “I’m also a pretty short person. The guys in the band are always laughing when they see me with my bass guitar. They tell me I look like a hamster with a hamburger.”

Gabriel is grateful for her husband Bart’s help with equipment. “I can play guitar, but when it comes to plugging into amps and things like that, I have no idea what I’m doing”, she admits. “Luckily, I have Bart, who knows everything. This is kind of his hobby. He helps me finding the best gear and setting it up properly. He also helps the other guys in Crystal Viper with their gear. They also ask him for advice when they are looking for something.”

Busy Hands

“People keep on telling me that I hit my strings pretty hard. I don’t know why. It’s not something that I planned to do, and I never took any bass lessons. It might actually come from me being a pianist. When I play bass chords on piano, I love to hit them hard. So maybe it’s the same with my base guitar. When I hit the notes, I want them to be loud.”

Then there is the matter of singing and playing bass at the same time. “Yes, it is more difficult”, Gabriel nods. “Many people tend to assume that playing bass guitar and singing is so much easier than playing guitar and singing. And that’s not true. Because those two things are completely different. When you play bass guitar, you are truly a part of the rhythm section. Playing bass and singing, to me, is almost like playing drums and singing.

When I was playing guitar and singing live, I could hold a chord and sing an entire line sometimes. When you play bass guitar, you need to keep on going with the drums all the time. Your hands are always busy playing. Even though I have been playing bass for many years, that was completely new for me when I played bass and sang simultaneously on stage for the first time.

It was quite difficult for me in the beginning. But I had to practice, practice, practice. And right now, I’m feeling super comfortable with my bass on stage. And to be honest, I think I like playing bass even more than guitar on stage. It feels more powerful to me than a guitar. The bass is a very powerful instrument with a lot of energy.”

Three Minutes of Breathing Room

The piano, Gabriel’s main instrument, is featured more prominently on ‘The Silver Key’ than it was on ‘The Cult’ as well, if only for the piano ballad ‘Wayfaring Dreamer’. “This album is very fast, very powerful, in some moments it’s pretty brutal”, Gabriel explains. “When I composed that song, I thought: this song needs to be on the album. Let’s give people who listen to the album three minutes of breathing room to get ready for the next powerful song.

When I compose songs for Crystal Viper, they always start with piano. So for example, ‘Cosmic Forces Overtake’ was a piano song in the beginning. Maybe I will need to release those piano versions of the song someday. Because the truth is: they sound completely different. I remember a couple of years ago, I sat at my piano, and I recorded ‘At the Edge of Time’. Later, I recorded all those guitar riffs that you can hear in the song and presented them to the band.

When I sent them the piano versions later, I told them: okay guys, try to guess what song this is? And in the beginning it was hard for them to figure it out, because it really sounds completely different. Especially something like ‘At the Edge of Time’, which is almost like a thrash metal song.

You can see how many things I’m actually still learning when I’m working on new music. When I compose songs, sometimes I create riffs that I can’t play. Then I need to practice playing it, then record them, then play them live, and so on. And this is actually how I learned to play guitar and bass guitar: for my own compositions for Crystal Viper.”