Bernd Seeberger (vocals/keyboards), Larsen Beattie (guitars), Christian Reichel (bass guitar) and Marek Karakasevic (drums).
With this formation Cryptic Wintermoon played a few local concerts. At the end of 1994 Bernd Seeberger decided to leave the band because of personal reasons. Ronny Dörfler, the vocalist of a local Thrash band called Terrible Somnium took the place behind the Cryptic Wintermoon microphone. Later drummer Marek had been replaced with the former Terrible Somnium guitar player Alexander Pöhlmann. With this line-up the band recorded the demo-tape "Voyage Dans La Lune" in August 1995, which was mainly sold in the underground. As Ronny decided to concentrate on his part as singer, Andrea Walter came into the band to play the keys.
Musicial and personal differences between Christian Reichel and the rest of the band almost lead to the end of Cryptic Wintermoon. So the split in summer of 1996 was unavoidable. Christian Ender took upon the part of the bass and background vocals. A second guitar player, Jochen Kressin, completed the line-up.
In March 1997, the MCD "Cryptic Wintermoon" was recorded in the Frost studios in half a year later in October the MCD was published without a label. In the same month, Jochen decided to study and was no longer possible for him to play with Cryptic Wintermoon. He was replaced by Michael Schürger. In this formation the band played a lot of concerts in Germany with bands like Desaster, Night In Gales, Purgatory, Agathodaimon, Ancient Rites, Impending Doom... And managed to make a name in the underground as a Black/Death/Thrash Metal band.
In autumn 1998, Cryptic Wintermoon released a split EP with the band Lord Astaroth, containing “Shadowland” (re-recorded) and “Beyond The Night”. The split EP was distributed by Perverted Taste Records. Because of still no label deal, a promo-tape with four songs was recorded. After that tape, Ars Metalli offered a contract in December 1998. And so the recordings for the long player "The Age Of Cataclysm" started in May 1999 in the famous Frost studios, which had developed into a professional studio. In November the album was released. It contained eleven songs with 60 minutes playing time. “The Age Of Cataclysm” got best results Metal magazines like Rock Hard (9 of 10 pts), Heavy Or What (10 of 12 pts). After the recordings Christian Ender decided to give up active music and Alexander Pöhlmann had to give up because of his eardrum. Both were replaced by Jens "Jason" Löhner (bass) and Andreas "Goatie" Schmidt (drums) known from the Death Metal band Violation.
Cryptic Wintermoon finally quit the record deal with Ars Metalli cause the label didn’t pay anything and also didn’t do shit for the band.
Again without deal a new 5 track promo CD was recorded and later on the complete "A Coming Storm" album; the band managed to sign a deal with Massacre Records. After the recordings of the album, the bass player Jason lost interest in the band and the music, and was replaced by Gary Kietz. “A Coming Storm” was released in May 2003 and got again very good reviews: 8,5/10 RockHard, 10/12 Heavy Oder Was, 89/100 Metalreviews.com…
After the release of "A coming Storm" the new guy on the Bassguitar had to drop out of the band because he wasnt able to play Bassguitar anymore cause of a serious injury. A new Bassplayer was found in the 18 year old Nicolaj Rüster woh also plays guitar in the Band "Angelus Mortis".
Discography
Voyage Dans La Lune Demo, 1995
Cryptic Wintermoon EP, 1997
Franconian Frost Split, 1998
The Age of Cataclysm Full-length, 1999
A Coming Storm Full-length, 2003
of Shadows...And the Dark Things You Fear Full-length, 2005
Grave Without a Name
Cryptic Wintermoon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Staring to the sky above - the incoming darkness
And lonely we die
No one who prays for us - no one who cries
We die - to the place where our dead brothers lie
And now the cold grips my heart
A heart of ice - and the eyes like winter
Not afraid of the coming night - remember where darkness there is a light
A burning flame forever to remain
Just another grave in the cold without a name
Now darkness fills the sky - see the Valkyries fly
A last look to the sky above - we are warriors born to die
The lyrics of Cryptic Wintermoon's song, Grave Without a Name, are a poetic depiction of death and the afterlife. The opening lines, "As crimson colors the sky - where ravens fly / Staring to the sky above - the incoming darkness," suggest the setting of the sun and the onset of night, with dark imagery evoking a sense of foreboding. The lyrics go on to describe dying alone, with no one to pray or cry for the deceased, and being laid to rest among dead comrades.
The second verse describes a person's heart turning to ice as they await death, with eyes like winter, implying a cold and desolate state of being. However, the lyrics also suggest a sense of acceptance and fearlessness towards death, with the lines "Not afraid of the coming night - remember where darkness there is a light / A burning flame forever to remain." The final lines of the song, "Now darkness fills the sky - see the Valkyries fly / A last look to the sky above - we are warriors born to die," suggest that the deceased are being taken to the afterlife by the Valkyries, and that they were valiant warriors who accepted their fate.
Line by Line Meaning
As crimson colors the sky - where ravens fly
The color red fills the sky which is home to the birds of death.
Staring to the sky above - the incoming darkness
Looking up at the sky, witnessing the oncoming darkness.
And lonely we die
We die alone, without anyone to mourn us.
No one who prays for us - no one who cries
There is nobody praying or mourning for us after our death.
We die - to the place where our dead brothers lie
We die and go to join our fellow dead brothers in the afterlife.
And now the cold grips my heart
A feeling of coldness grips my heart.
I can see them coming
I can see the afterlife coming for me.
A heart of ice - and the eyes like winter
The heart has become cold and emotionless, while the eyes look dead and lifeless.
Not afraid of the coming night - remember where darkness there is a light
Unafraid of death, because where there is darkness, there is always light.
A burning flame forever to remain
A burning flame of the soul will forever remain in the memory of the living.
Just another grave in the cold without a name
After death, one's significance is reduced to just another anonymous grave in the cold ground.
Now darkness fills the sky - see the Valkyries fly
All the light is gone as the Valkyries come to guide the dead to the afterlife.
A last look to the sky above - we are warriors born to die
Taking one last look at the sky above, knowing that warriors are born to die.
Contributed by Eva R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Manc
this song is something special... this band is special... damn hard to find these kind today! one of the best songs ever! made in heart of winter!
Charles
One of my favourite albums. One of Germany's greatest bands.
DistortedFaiths
Finally a Black Metal band that looks at all the destruction in the world and tells the truth about it.
XNails X
Such a beautiful song, I love it
Matsananimal
It's very hard to find great melodic black metal like this that isn't satanic.
XNails X
Yeah this is beautiful music,
mat. m.
Cap
DivisionAlbaniaSS
A song for the heart,for a super human heart!
Der Jeniche
One of Germany´s finest black metal bands, all their albums are great
StupidAutotune
Almost every night I stand in my garden listening to this before bed with headphones. I see the dark sky and sometimes see the stars out. Unfortunately I have to lip sync because of the neighbors. Great Song !