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Mythica.
Despite forming in 2001, local metal band Mythica has been somewhat
dormant for much of theperiod since its inception. Thankfully,
however, that's a situation that's set to change with the group
recently releasing its self-titled debut CD-EP and making a
real effort of late to play more shows.
Interestingly, the band itself came about almost by accident, as drummer Drew reveals. "We came together when a girl fly-kicked me at the Crown & Anchor at a Chalice show, causing me to spill my beer all over [guitarist] Alex," he recalls.
Fortunately, what could have become an ugly scene ended with Drew and Alex striking up a conversation rather than get into a fight. "Somehow, we started talking about music and he discovered that I played the drums, and was looking for a metal act to start up."
"Alex and I had been jamming for a little while ourselves at that time," adds vocalist and fellow guitarist Phil.
"And a couple of months later down the track, I joined in," says bassist Brandon. "It just became a four-piece. We did a few old cover songs at first, and then started working on some new stuff, albeit slowly."
The group went through a number of vocalists before finally deciding to let Phil take care of that side of things.
"No-one could really fill the position," says Drew.
"We settled on one guy, and he was good, but after a period of about twelve months, we decided that he wasn't what we were looking for. It's nothing against his singing; he just wasn't what we were looking for, so Phil took over that role. I didn't actually hear him sing until I heard it on a demo, but as soon as I heard that, I thought, 'This is the voice that suits this style of music. This is the voice of Mythica'."
Like the band itself, Mythica's name came about largely by chance - it apparently just popped out of a friend's mouth when she and the group were drinking at the pub - as did their current sound, which Phil admits is somewhat haphazard, even today.
"We've got a lot of songs which are more on the melodic side of death metal," he elaborates, "and then we've got quite a few which are down-tuned and just brutal."
"The really early songs sound like our influences; just us regurgitating their stuff," adds Drew, "but our later stuff is a lot more us."
"I can't wait to get more of it down on CD," enthuses Alex.
"It's taken us three years to get out and start doing shows," says Brandon, "and we don't want to be playing the same songs over and over again."
The band's debut release also took its time coming together, although Drew proudly states that, "we laid the drum tracks down in a day." Even so, he found the process of recording in a seperate room from the other band members was more than a little frustrating.
"It was probably the most difficult recording situation I've ever been in," he says.
"The other guys were in a room off to my right, so to try and get the cues right, I had to look in that direction while I was playing. I'd never do it like that again."
"It turned out all right," says Brandon, "but, yeah, we'll definitely have everyone in the same room next time!"
Phil has written most of the lyrics to the group's songs, and confesses that it's often a last-minute effort.
"It's often a case of, 'Shit, we've got a gig coming up; I'd better write some fucking lyrics for this song we're going to play!'" he says, "so I just write something down."
In keeping with their name, the band try to make most of their songs about mythological creatures and characters. "There's one called The Washer At The Ford, which isn't on the CD," says Phil. "It's about this woman who, if you see her washing your clothes at the ford, it means you're going to die."
"There's also this one called Yama-Uba," says Alex, referring to a song that on the CD. "Yama-Uba is a Japanese mountain demon that has vipers for hair, and a mouth for a head. She's a woman that lives in the mountains, and feeds on humans because they're sweet."
James Brazel
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Mythica play at Zhivagos on Thurs 26 May with Manic Distortion. 'Mythica' is out now.
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