Cryoshell

{{Short description|Danish rock band}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Cryoshell

| image = Cryoshell Logo.jpg

| caption = Cryoshell's logo used in promotional material.

| image_size =

| landscape =

| origin = Copenhagen, Denmark

| genre = {{Flatlist|

| years_active = 2006–present

| label = {{Flatlist|

  • Cryoshell I/S
  • VME}}

| associated_acts = Brinck

| current_members = Christine Lorentzen
Kasper Søderlund
Mikkel Maltha

| past_members = Jakob Gundel
Tine Midtgaard
Martin Pagaard

}}

Cryoshell (often stylized as C R Y O S H E L L) is a Danish rock band from Copenhagen formed in 2006. The line-up consists of lead vocalist Christine Lorentzen, guitarist Kasper Søderlund and keyboardist Mikkel Maltha.

In the band's early years, they produced several songs that featured in promotional material for the Lego toy series Bionicle. In the wake of the toy line's 2010 discontinuation, they released their self-titled debut album. A sophomore effort, Next to Machines, is currently in production.

Cryoshell's musical style has been classified as alternative rock, hard rock and metal, and labelled similar to other female-fronted bands such as Delain, Evanescence, Within Temptation and Lacuna Coil.

History

=2006–2008: Formation and early work=

The group that would later be called Cryoshell was first formed in Copenhagen, Denmark in late 2006. Music composer Mikkel Maltha was commissioned by the Lego Group to produce a song that would be used in the campaign of a forthcoming line of Lego toys. Maltha wrote "Creeping in My Soul" with fellow composer Anthony Lledo and produced the track with Eddie Simonsen and musician Kasper Søderlund. Vocals were provided by Christine Lorentzen – a former TV presenter and employee of the creative agency Advance – after she auditioned for the part.

"Creeping in My Soul" featured in commercials, online games and other media advertising Lego's Bionicle Barraki wave in 2007. When the song was released as a free MP3 download, it became the number-one most downloaded file from the official Lego website, and reached over one million views across various videos featuring the song on YouTube. Riding on this success, Maltha, Søderlund and Simonsen went on to produce the tracks "Face Me" and "Gravity Hurts" with established Danish singer Niels Brinck for the campaigns of Bionicle's 2007 Mahri and 2008 Phantoka waves, respectively.

Lorentzen rejoined Maltha and Søderlund to record "Closer to the Truth" for Bionicle's Mistika wave in 2008. The song served as the group's first official release under the band name Cryoshell. Plans to record a full-length album for a late 2008 release were announced, but production kept being pushed back.

=2009–2014: ''Cryoshell''=

Cryoshell spent the majority of 2009 recording their self-titled debut album with producer Jacob Hansen. The lead single "Bye Bye Babylon" was released in July 2009, simultaneously serving as the band's fifth and final song for Bionicle, this time for their Glatorian and Glatorian Legends waves. A re-recorded version of "Creeping in My Soul" was released as the second single in November, followed by an EP bearing the same name in January 2010. Cryoshell was released on June 7, 2010, solely in Scandinavia due to difficulties in securing an international distribution, but slowly became available overseas over the next two years.

Lorentzen took maternity leave from the band between November 2011 and October 2013. In her place, Tine Midtgaard, a runner-up on the Danish incarnation of the talent show The X Factor, provided vocals for two new recordings – "Breakout" and a remix of "Gravity Hurts" – the former of which received a single release in December 2012. When Lorentzen rejoined, it was stated that both songs would be included as bonus tracks on an international reissue of Cryoshell's debut album under Greek record label The Leaders. However, a release date was never announced and the plans are thought to have been scrapped.

=2015–Present: ''Next to Machines''=

In February 2015, concept artist Christian Faber confirmed that Cryoshell would produce the soundtrack for Rebel Nature, a multimedia project that he is currently developing. Recording began the following September for a mobile app game called Escape RIG21.{{Cite web | url=http://faberfiles.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/breaking-cryoshell-now-in-rebelnature.html | title=Cryoshell now in Rebel Nature session | publisher=Blogger | accessdate=30 September 2015}} Songs inspired by Rebel Nature will make up Cryoshell's second studio album, Next to Machines. Production was originally set to be crowdfunded through Kickstarter, but the band managed to secure their own finance prior to the campaign's May 2017 launch.{{Cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srQPtBXrBxg | title=Great news about the next Cryoshell album| publisher=YouTube | accessdate=30 April 2017}} Five singles were released ahead of the album – "Nature Girl" (a cover of "Nature Boy" by Nat King Cole), "Don't Look Down" and "Slipping" in 2018, "Dive" in 2020, and "Faux" in 2021.

Additionally, an orchestral remix of "Gravity Hurts" featuring Lorentzen and the Budapest Art Orchestra was released in January 2018, followed by singular releases of the mixes featuring Brinck and Midgaard in December 2018. A classical version of "Creeping in My Soul" was also released in 2019, while the band collaborated with the synth-rock musician Essenger on the track "As Above, So Below", which was released in 2023 in celebration of "Bionicle Day".

Band members

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

=Current=

{{col-2}}

=Former=

  • Jakob Gundel – Drums {{small|(2009–11)}}
  • Tine Midtgaard – Lead vocals {{small|(2011–13)}}
  • Martin Pagaard – Drums {{small|(2011–13)}}

{{col-end}}

=Timeline=

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:25

PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:0

Alignbars = justify

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy

Period = from:01/01/2006 till:31/12/2022

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors =

id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals

id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar

id:Keyboard value:purple legend:Keyboards

id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass

id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums

id:Lines1 value:black legend:Studio_albums

id:Lines2 value:gray(0.5) legend:Singles

Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom

ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:01/01/2006

LineData =

at:19/07/2009 color:Lines2 layer:back

at:29/11/2009 color:Lines2 layer:back

at:07/06/2010 color:black layer:back

at:09/12/2012 color:Lines2 layer:back

at:12/01/2018 color:Lines2 layer:back

at:16/02/2018 color:Lines2 layer:back

at:30/03/2018 color:Lines2 layer:back

at:05/10/2018 color:Lines2 layer:back

at:14/12/2018 color:Lines2 layer:back

at:25/12/2019 color:Lines2 layer:back

at:03/04/2020 color:Lines2 layer:back

at:19/03/2021 color:Lines2 layer:back

BarData =

bar:Lorentzen text:"Christine Lorentzen"

bar:Midtgaard text:"Tine Midtgaard"

bar:Søderlund text:"Kasper Søderlund"

bar:Maltha text:"Mikkel Maltha"

bar:Gundel text:"Jakob Gundel"

bar:Pagaard text:"Martin Pagaard"

PlotData =

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)

bar:Lorentzen from:01/01/2006 till:31/03/2007 color:Vocals

bar:Lorentzen from:31/03/2008 till:01/11/2011 color:Vocals

bar:Lorentzen from:01/10/2013 till:end color:Vocals

bar:Midtgaard from:01/11/2011 till:01/10/2013 color:Vocals

bar:Søderlund from:01/01/2006 till:end color:Guitar

bar:Søderlund from:01/01/2006 till:end color:Bass width:3

bar:Maltha from:01/01/2006 till:end color:Keyboard

bar:Gundel from:31/10/2009 till:01/10/2011 color:Drums

bar:Pagaard from:01/10/2011 till:01/10/2013 color:Drums

Discography

{{Infobox artist discography

|Artist = Cryoshell

|Image =

|Caption =

|Studio = 1

|Singles = 13

|EP = 1

|Compilation =

|Video =

|Music videos = 6

|B-sides =

}}

Cryoshell have released 1 studio album, 1 extended play, 13 singles and 6 music videos.

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

=Studio albums=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
style="width:350px;"|Album details
style="text-align:left;"| Cryoshell

=Extended plays=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
style="width:350px;"|Extended play details
style="text-align:left;"| Creeping in My Soul

  • Released: January 5, 2010
  • Label: Cryoshell I/S
  • Formats: Digital download

{{col-2}}

=Singles=

class="wikitable"
Year

!Song

!Album

rowspan="2"| 2009

|"Bye Bye Babylon"

|rowspan="2"| Cryoshell

"Creeping in My Soul"
2012

|"Breakout"

|rowspan="2" {{n/a|Non-album single}}

rowspan="6"| 2018

|"Gravity Hurts" {{small|(featuring Budapest Art Orchestra)}}

"Nature Girl"

|rowspan="3"| Next to Machines

"Don't Look Down"
"Slipping"
"Gravity Hurts" {{small|(featuring Brinck)}}

|rowspan="3" {{n/a|Non-album single}}

"Gravity Hurts" {{small|(with Tine Midgaard)}}
2019

|"Creeping in My Soul" {{small|(featuring Budapest Art Orchestra)}}

2020

|"Dive"

|rowspan="2"| Next to Machines

2021

|"Faux"

2023

|"As Above, So Below" {{small|(with Essenger)}}

|{{n/a|Non-album single}}

=Music videos=

class="wikitable"
Year

!Song

!Director

rowspan="2"|2008

|"Gravity Hurts" {{small|(featuring Brinck)}}

|rowspan="2" {{n/a|Unknown}}

"Closer to the Truth"
rowspan="2"|2009

|"Bye Bye Babylon"

|rowspan="2"|Josh Nussbaum

"Bye Bye Babylon" {{small|(Bionicle version)}}
2010

|"Creeping in My Soul"

|Peter Hjort

2018

|"Gravity Hurts" {{small|(featuring Budapest Art Orchestra)}}

|Sune Daugaard

{{col-end}}

References

{{Reflist}}