Kryst The Conqueror
Encyclopedia
Kryst the Conqueror was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
project formed in August of 1987
1987 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
by two former members of the horror punk
Horror punk
Horror punk is a music genre that mixes Gothic and punk rock sounds with morbid imagery and lyrics, which are often influenced by horror films...
band, The Misfits. The project was led by bassist Jerry Only
Jerry Only
Jerry Only is an American bassist. He is the current bassist and vocalist for the Misfits. He is credited with creating the infamous hair style known as the devilock.-Life and career:...
, who adopted a new stage name, "Mo The Great" (or alternately, "Mocavious Kryst"), and his younger brother, guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein
Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein
Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein , is an American guitarist best known for his material with the horror punk band the Misfits.-Life and career:...
. The band fused fantastical and sci-fi imagery with religious themes and messages. The band has also been referred to as a "guitar shop project", as Only and Doyle constantly tweaked and refined their instruments throughout the band's existence, in an attempt to create what they felt would be the ultimate bass and guitar.
In 1988, they formed The Doyle Fan Club
The Doyle Fan Club
The Doyle Fan Club was a fan club formed in 1988 by former Misfits members Jerry Only and Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein. It was made to promote their new band Kryst The Conqueror and stay in touch with fans of the Misfits, according to various interviews conducted at the time, and a series of fan...
in order to promote the new project and stay in touch with fans of The Misfits. According to various interviews conducted at the time, and a series of fan club letters written by Jerry Only (as "Mo The Great") from 1988 to 1990, Kryst the Conqueror was meant to be Only's vision of the "perfect" band. He hoped the "righteous" message of the band would reach out to fans, especially those who had followed former Misfits frontman, Glenn Danzig
Glenn Danzig
Glenn Danzig Glenn Danzig Glenn Danzig (born Glenn Allen Anzalone; June 23, 1955 is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, entrepreneur, and a progenitor of the horror punk subgenre of music. He is a founder of bands the Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig...
's post-Misfits career with the bands Samhain
Samhain (band)
Samhain was an American rock band formed by singer Glenn Danzig in 1983, immediately following his departure from the Misfits. Samhain played in more of a deathrock and heavy metal-infused style of horror punk than Danzig's previous band. By 1987 Samhain's membership evolved into a new band,...
and Danzig
Danzig (band)
Danzig is an American heavy metal band, formed in 1987 in Lodi, New Jersey. The band serves as a musical outlet for the singer/songwriter Glenn Danzig. Danzig can be seen as the third stage in Glenn Danzig's musical career, preceded by the horror punk bands The Misfits and Samhain...
- bands which Jerry felt were satanic, evil and possibly damaging to impressionable youths.
A full album, Deliver Us From Evil, was recorded, although it has never been officially released in its entirety. Instead, five of the album's tracks were released in 1990 as an EP for a special Christmas package. The band never had an official lead singer, although noted Yngwie Malmsteen vocalist, Jeff Scott Soto
Jeff Scott Soto
Jeff Scott Soto is an American rock singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for being the lead singer for the group Talisman from 1990 till the end of Talisman in 2007, the vocalist on Yngwie Malmsteen's first two albums, and for stepping up to the job of lead vocalist for Journey on...
, was hired to record vocals for the album (as he was still under contract with Yngwie, he was billed on the EP as "Kryst the Conqueror"). Also, Dave "The Snake" Sabo
Dave Sabo
David Michael Sabo, nicknamed "The Snake," is a rock guitarist who plays in the heavy metal band Skid Row. He is co-guitarist with guitarist Scotti Hill.-Biography:...
did a guest guitar solo
Guitar solo
In popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such...
on the song "Spellbound."
Though the band never played live, Kryst the Conqueror survived as a non-active band until 1995, at which time Jerry and Doyle reached an out of court settlement with Glenn Danzig, granting them the rights to perform as The Misfits. Kryst the Conqueror was then quickly revamped into what would become the second incarnation of The Misfits. Some Kryst the Conqueror songs were eventually re-written into songs for the "resurrected" Misfits.
Members
- Jerry OnlyJerry OnlyJerry Only is an American bassist. He is the current bassist and vocalist for the Misfits. He is credited with creating the infamous hair style known as the devilock.-Life and career:...
(as Mo The Great aka Mocavious Kryst) – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Doyle Wolfgang von FrankensteinDoyle Wolfgang von FrankensteinDoyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein , is an American guitarist best known for his material with the horror punk band the Misfits.-Life and career:...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s - The Murp – drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s (1987 – 1992) - Dr. ChudDr. ChudDr. C.H.U.D. is an American rock drummer and singer.-Life and career:...
– drums (1992–1995)
Guest musicians
- Jeff Scott SotoJeff Scott SotoJeff Scott Soto is an American rock singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for being the lead singer for the group Talisman from 1990 till the end of Talisman in 2007, the vocalist on Yngwie Malmsteen's first two albums, and for stepping up to the job of lead vocalist for Journey on...
(as Kryst the Conqueror) - Vocals (recording only) - Dave "The Snake" Sabo - Guitar Solo (one song)
Discography
- Deliver Us From Evil EP (1989)
- Deliver Us From Evil (unreleased)