In 2016, Hank co-founded Skryptor, a new trio with David McClelland and Tim Garrigan, respective ex-members of craw and Dazzling Killmen, bands who had been among his formative influences. He’d worked with McClelland years earlier in the art-rock band Bat Eats Plastic and occasionally played with Garrigan over the years. The trio went on to write and release a debut full-length, and perform in and around NYC. Go here to hear or purchase the music, and see below for more info on the band.
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Luminous Volumes, the debut LP by NYC instrumental trio Skryptor, is the work of learned veterans with a holistic command of loud-rock techniques. The band's members, who have contributed to Dazzling Killmen, craw, Stats and many other projects, bring together various influences — from Black Sabbath's hazy stomp to Sonny Sharrock's fiery improvisations and the ecstatic prog-jazz of Mahavishnu Orchestra — to create a complex yet immediate sound.
A joint release between renowned labels Aqualamb, Sleeping Giant Glossolalia and SKiN GRAFT Records, the album will be released on vinyl CD and as an Ultimate Edition which pairs both with a deluxe, illustrated 200+ page book featuring original horror stories curated by Skryptor bassist David McClelland.
Skryptor's roots stretch back to the early '90s post-hardcore underground. Cleveland's craw and St. Louis’ Dazzling Killmen, two of the more advanced and unusual bands of the era, struck up a friendship and occasionally shared the stage. David McClelland and Tim Garrigan — guitarists in craw and the Killmen, respectively — reconnected when both found themselves living in New York in the early 2000s.
In Skryptor, they join up with Hank Shteamer, drummer for bands including STATS and an avid longtime fan of McClelland and Garrigan's prior bands. A 2015 craw box set, spearheaded by Shteamer and co-released by Aqualamb, led to two reunion gigs, which in turn became the direct impetus for Skryptor: “When craw powered up again, I realized I had come to some sort of peace with the idea of making music as an endless process, and began stockpiling musical ideas. That led in a pretty natural way to Skryptor,” says McClelland, who had drifted away from making music in the preceding years
Shteamer and McClelland set about writing together, with McClelland on bass for the first time in his musical career. Upon realizing they needed a third instrumental voice, they approached Garrigan about getting involved. He agreed to join, and the nascent band immediately dove into writing its debut, intensively reworking the compositions over and over until they were left with a crisp 35 minutes of music, free of any “dead air,” as Shteamer puts it. "They had some good riffs/arrangements of some things, and gave me room to add and stretch out parts," explains Garrigan. "I eventually contributed more writing/arrangement wise."
The results range from the muscular, kinetic prog-punk of "Red Mountain" and the wild synchronized shredding of "Raga" to the gentle atmospherics of epic album closer "Summer Blossoms." Fans of the members prior bands will recognize a similar brand of gritty intensity and brainy intricacy in Skryptor, coupled with a new focus on concision, power and improvisational depth.
Visit skryptor.bandcamp.com to stream or purchase Luminous Volumes.
Tim Garrigan - guitars; David McClelland - bass VI; Hank Shteamer - drums