Progressive Death Metal act, Cryptic Shift, is releasing a new album titled "Overspace & Supertime." The Sci-Fi-inspired sleeve illustration was crafted by Canadian artist, Jesse Jacobi. In the following interview, guitarist/vocalist Xander Bradley talks about the creation of this panoramic piece.
Xander Bradley: It’s our character, The Recaller, approaching a mysterious entity amidst the backdrop of gas giant cloudscapes. She’s spent the whole second song tracking this alien sorceress down and the cover art portrays the very moment they meet. The sorceress is a super powerful being, and she initiates a psychic conversation as the recaller approaches, kind of like Galadriel does to Frodo in Lothlórien! Then they have a physical spoken conversation, which you hear in the fifth movement of Stratocumulus Evergaol. This alien lives on this floating barge-like platform along with her followers as they are harvesting blood and offal from the insides of a dead ancient deity that lies in the clouds. You can see the pipes and wires on the back and on the right that lead into the things insides. The alien uses this material for rituals like Haruspexation. Over on the left you can see the craft that the recaller takes for the next song Hyperspace Topography. And in the top left you will see a snippet of the space battle that rages in orbit of the planet. A fascination with gas giants has been present from the conception of the whole sci-fi story that our music follows, and obviously Enceladus is one of Saturn’s moons. The fascinating elements are the sheer forces that exist in the atmospheres, the storm formations, colors of the clouds, speed of the winds. They will be incredibly fascinating for many hundreds of years of human research for sure. They're always an incredible visual in movies too like cloud city in "The Empire Strikes Back" or those meditative shots in "Ad Astra."
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The complete sleeve illustration for "Overspace &Supertime" |
Why did you choose a panoramic album artwork instead of a square one?
Xander Bradley: It seemed natural to have a widescreen presentation. I’ve always loved it when picking up a record with great art that continues as you turn the vinyl over. You’ll notice that the structure of the cover is the same as our last album "Visitations From Enceladus." Both portray a character approaching a tall structure. The symmetry was designed this way because both characters are on similar paths and both albums take place at the same time more or less. Having that as the front focus and then the reverse to explore the amazing environment, they’re in. In both instances we also have no logo on the front. We really want to showcase the artist and have the structure and composition as the recognizable element for Cryptic Shift. However, I can tell you that my idea for the third album cover will be just a front cover square!
How did Jesse Jacobi become involved in the project?
Xander Bradley: I’ve had his style attached to my idea of this album for so long. When we started working on the music it was always my thought, and as a band we would scroll through his work and imagine if he worked with us. And with Metal Blade as a partner, it was possible to make it a reality! We reached out and he was up for it. Jesse usually works in dark blues and often paints caves with dripping streams and even features character designs of his own. When I pitched the concept, one of the main focuses was that it would be in an open space, not a cavern, and it would be primarily orange, not blue. I felt this would challenge and excite him for the project! It’s basically the same approach I take with my bandmates for the songwriting and their performances. The idea of seeing someone's talents and pushing it into an unfamiliar territory that you can foresee them capable of overcoming is really rewarding.
Tell us about the techniques/mediums used to create this artwork.
Xander Bradley: I believe it’s an oil painting on a canvas that’s basically the same size as the vinyl gatefold; I’m sure Jesse would talk about greater details in any interviews he does. So, to begin with he sketched out a guideline digitally for the layout to get in any particular elements that were needed. Then he created a base coat of just orange. He then went about all the details and was plain sailing really.
When it came to the character design the recaller was badass and perfect, the circular retro helmet and all the crazy armor and backpack that he put in was so cool. The Alien Sorceress took a couple attempts to nail a look for the head. My imagination always went to a tall, robed figure like Moebius’s desert characters, but the exact face was never locked. I used some early 2021/2022 gen-AI softwares for my own brainstorming that were really helpful. All the other details were of Jesse’s imagination; the platform design is really cool and even the statues which are very his style worked out. In a previous track ‘The Arctic Chasm’ we visit an ancient council chamber with bathykolpian and calliphygian statues which coincidentally made total sense with the shared architecture. And we actually return there in the title track here because the alien sorceress is part of that ancient bloodline.
The escape pod design was awesome too how it’s almost a merge of fossilization and technology. Then the background clouds are beautiful. I got really into researching cloud formations like mammatus and bizarre anvils that storm chasers have photographed. Elements of nature like that are one of my great interests like volcanoes too! All of Jesses process actually inspired me during the lyrics of the title track. The Recaller and The Alien Sorceress have teamed up in that song and must speak with this ancient being in his own abode in another dimension! But to get there they have to go through a particular portal which has to be physically ‘painted’ to access the neighboring dimension. So, I used a bunch of painting terminology within the lyrics for the third verse. Check it out!!
Can you provide any information about the origins of the band's logo?
Xander Bradley: Originally designed by Nemesis Design who did some of our older covers after we wanted a new logo. We then thought about upgrading it and adding extra details like spikes and circuitry like Voivod change up their logos every album. Nemesis did some really cool stuff, but the vibe was too deathcore and was off. We then went to Ciaran Notion to spruce it up, who we’ve worked with a lot since then. What we have now I’m really happy with, it’s like an obscure alien computer chip.
"Overspace & Supertime" will be released on February 27, through Metal Blade Records. Pre-orders available at metalblade.com/crypticshift
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