Interview: Ryan Sheperson and Xander Bradley (Cryptic Shift)

Interview: 2nd March 2026

Just after the release of their new album, Overspace & Supertime (read my review here), I spent some time in the company of Ryan Sheperson and Xander Bradley of Cryptic Shift. We spoke about their inspirations, the new album, song writing and their love of science-fiction.

Hotel Hobbies: Thinking about the genesis of the band, what do you think were the creative sparks, obsessions and interests you shared that made you feel Cryptic Shift could occupy its own place in the death metal universe.

Xander Bradley: The first two things were The Star Wars prequels and Sepultura’s Beneath The Remains. So if you go back far enough, we're smashing those two together. Give it ten years and that’s what you end up with.

Hotel Hobbies: You have had quite a journey over those ten years. The last album – Visitations of Enceladus – built an almost cult following who enjoyed the balance of story and brutality. When you started on the new album what was the one thing you agreed on as band you wanted to evolve?

Xander Bradley: We did want to evolve but I think in retrospect, we just kept doing our own thing but better. We expanded the clean sections and wanted better songwriting. It is interesting thinking what might have gone into it subconsciously. I think the major thing is the musicianship. We wanted to try to be better musicians and make a really worthy follow up to Visitations.

Hotel Hobbies: Visitations was so well received. Did it feel like you had to try and top it?

Xander Bradley: Personally, I don't think that that came into my mind. I was really excited and ready to continue the story because a lot of these ideas and riffs were already ready for Overspace & Supertime. I couldn’t wait to get back into it.

Hotel Hobbies: You have described the storyline of the new album as an alternative reality extension of the first album. What was attractive about crafting a parallel story rather than a pure continuation?

Ryan Sheperson: I think musically, it does act as continuation of the styles we established on the first album. Obviously, those are enhanced but thematically the story ties it to Visitations so it was important that some of the music had to stay in line. Also, it is our first album with Metal Blade so I think maybe some people were expecting that we would step away from being more adventurous. But we were really exited to see what further developments we could have on the sound and in terms of style.

Xander Bradley: It was also intentional to make Overspace an accompaniment to Visitations. We also thought that if new fans checked out Overspace and enjoyed it, they might go back and discover Visitations. They are meant to live side by side because the two characters go on the same journey in the same time period. A bunch of themes on both albums link up. Maybe that kind of idea comes from time travel movies. Like Back to the Future - where you see yourself in another timeline and you interact with something like that. Metal Blade came to us because of our work on Visitations so of course we were going to double down on what we did there.

Hotel Hobbies: Regarding doubling down, Overspace & Supertime is a five track, eighty minute album. Were there any moments when you thought you had gone too far and had to say enough?

Ryan Sheperson: I don't think there was any sort of limitations in regard to the song writing itself but I know there was times we didn't want to spend forever on them. So yes, there were certain points where we had to say we need to think about closing this one now! With the final refinements, we could have spent forever crafting the pieces so it was limited in that regard. But we didn’t have any creative limitations – at least timing wise!

Xander Bradley: I don't think we went too far in any places. There's that good quote from The Phantom Menace making of documentary where George Lucas is screening an early cut and he says, “I may have gone to far.” I think it's important to go through that process as a creator, as a musician and as a composer. There were strange parts of the songs that have been cut down and trimmed. Even though it is eighty minutes, there’s still a lot of sacrifice in order to get the songs to where they are. This is meant to be a pretty heavy, dense and long album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ddLanl3ozs

Hotel Hobbies: When first listening to the album, there is the feeling of holding on tight and doing so until the end. Then you can go back and dissect it on further listens.

Xander Bradley: That’s cool! The listening experience of a fan was always in our minds. Especially with the structure of the track listing. We open the record with Cryogenically Frozen. Instead of having a super long sample, a really slow chord section and then an ambient section with a slow build, this time we get straight into the fast metal and hit you with the double kicks. We purposely curated it this way. It gets going right away as opposed to Visitations. That was quite intentional, especially with the whole mirror image vibe we were going for. Cryogenically Frozen is actually a pretty straightforward tune. It was to ease you into the album. Then once you get past that, with no warning, we drop the big one. The thirty minute track.

Hotel Hobbies: With that thirty minute track – Stratocumulus Evergaol – the crafting of such an epic deserves credit. How do you ensure the pacing remains coherent but still allows you to take some wild detours?

Xander Bradley: With Stratocumulus Evergaol, the idea was to drop you into an alien world. We have really bizarre clean chords and then chill out in this groove. The idea was to expand on the clean sections of Visitations. Then you get to the thrash metal section similar to Moonbelt Immolator from Visitations. I like how it builds dynamically but it still has to be listenable. It's got to be fun for us to play as well. It has the funeral doom thing too! Then about sixteen, seventeen minutes in there’s a total shift in the song which is basically like a middle eight. It is way more upbeat. Then the last couple of movements veer it back to more suspenseful evil tones and dynamics. Yes, its thirty minutes but it flows well. Reign In Blood is thirty minutes and its great. It flows really well. Stratocumulus Evergaol is the same approach. The length of the song doesn’t really matter. It is about the overall flow.

Hotel Hobbies: You also name all of the instrumental sections and guitar solos. It is one of those albums that having the lyric book in front of you is of real benefit. It definitely adds to the experience.

Xander Bradley: It’s cool that you think so. Yes, those names are meant to enhance the music. When you look at them alongside the cover art, you get an idea of the setting to create an image in your mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SsDz3U6Tws

Hotel Hobbies: Although you are obviously an extreme metal band, in songs such as Hyperspace Topography there are elements of rock and even shoegaze. You seem to be a band that don’t want to limit yourselves to one thing.

Xander Bradley: Between the four of us, we have a really cool mix of all sorts of influences. It is great seeing what songs turn out like. Whenever we drop references from other genres, its never super overt. It is like taking a sprinkling of that ingredient and putting it within our extreme metal.

Hotel Hobbies: You mentioned the artwork. It is definitely an album cover that lends itself to the large format of vinyl.

Ryan Sheperson: That's definitely the intention with it. When the artwork was put together, we specifically tried to make sure it was dimensionally fitting for a gatefold record.

Hotel Hobbies: Could you talk a little about The Recaller, the protagonist of the new album.

Xander Bradley: The idea is - because the whole concept starts with cosmic dreams – the sprit of that character is split in two. One is on Visitations and then this one is The Recaller. The Amnesiac from Visitations didn’t remember anything. The Recaller remember everything from her cosmic dreams. The way she goes about her quest opposes Visitations. She is actively trying to figure out and solve the time loop they are in.

Hotel Hobbies: You have Mike Browning playing theremin on the album. How did that collaboration come about?

Ryan Sheperson: It was pretty organic, to be honest. We had the idea of having more of a solo over certain sections and we were debating what instrument it should be. We kind of fantasised about having a theremin solo and we loved Mike Browing’s work on the latest Nocturnus music. Out of curiosity we asked Mike Browning if he would be interested and he was. It is pretty awesome to collaborate with him, not only to have a guest on a record for the first time but also such a legend in the sci-fi / extreme metal realm.

Hotel Hobbies: When listening to the whole album, there are many changes of mood. It is like watching a film in a way. You go through all the same emotions as the character.

Xander Bradley: That's definitely super cool to hear. That's definitely what I imagine we were driving at.

Hotel Hobbies: The other thing that lends a cinematic aspect is the sound design and the production. You have the movement of sounds and speech between the left and right channels, for example. Listening on either speakers or headphone also changes what someone might pick out from it.

Ryan Sheperson: Yeah, absolutely. It is especially true in the more open areas of the record where it does rely heavily on that sound design. Like you say, it adds more depth to the album. I think its important for us to throw in those little sprinkles of additional depth. It is an interesting way to portray the direct narrative, environments or scenarios that unfold within the concept.

Xander Bradley: I think a lot of concept albums are just singing about the character doing this then doing that. We really want to put across the whole experience of putting you into this world. The sound design in the production went through as much meticulous design as the song writing. I think that's probably a cool advancement from Visitations. There was some of it in there but it has definitely progressed this time. During Stratocumulus Evergaol, in the skirmish movement, you can hear The Recaller in her spaceship zooming around asteroids and blasting enemy ships. She hears the communications of the commander of the battleship. Those are blasting in the left and the right speakers. Bringing those to life and putting them to our music is the coolest thing ever as a fan of sci-fi. It is really creatively fulfilling as well.

Hotel Hobbies: Last week, I interviewed Ben Champion from Unburier just before your gig with them on Saturday. He was very much looking to it. Now we are on the other side of the weekend, how was the concert and playing some of these songs live?

Ryan Sheperson: It was an incredible show and it was an incredible celebration of the album release. The line-up was a great handpicked selection of some of our favourite UK bands. It was a sold out show in London and it was raging from start to finish.

Xander Bradley: Yeah, I'm glad the circle pits, the headbangers and the moshers were still on board throughout the whole set pretty much non-stop. Even though we have some weird sections! It was really fun playing the new songs.

Hotel Hobbies: Finally, what do you think you have learned about yourselves as musicians over this last creative period and during the history of the band?

Ryan Sheperson: I think, for myself, it's certainly just to embrace taking your time and not rushing. A lot of musicians can expect too much from themselves, rush and create burnout. You need to find patience within yourself and the process. It is especially important as a long time player.

Xander Bradley: I think that younger musicians think too much about finding their own sound too quickly. You have to wait and you have to keep going. Ryan and I have been playing together since 2013. Like Ryan said, just focus on what you want to hear and eventually something cool will come out.

Hotel Hobbies: Thank you so much for your time. It has been great to chat with you. I have really enjoyed writing about the album so good luck with it.

Ryan Sheperson: Thank you so much for the interview.

Xander Bradley: Yes, thanks. I has been awesome.