Remember Mytra’s Copernicus (bottom of the post)? I already gave a hint of my positivity about this band in that post. Islander, over at NCS, digs it as well, as he said in this Miscellany post. That was nearly two months ago. But I kept finding myself longing for Mytra. I’ve been listening to it a fucklot lately and it continues to intrigue. It’s got these fine, thin tentacles that slowly work their way into my brain through my ears and eardrums and they do shit there. Pleasant shit. It’s like those Alien movies where people’s body’s get invaded by slimy alien freaks and then they die, except that it’s that but pleasant.

During its existence, which is since 1996, Hungarian band has released just three demos, all completely instrumental. The last two Ecotone and Sagittarius are the ones of which I speak in this article. These are the ones I have playing right now that still completely capture my mind.

What is Mytra? Well, I Googled around a bit and landed at Mitra, which was “an important Indo-Iranian divinity”, from which a number of different religions formed in ancient times. One such religion is Mithraism, which focused on the god Mithras who was born from a rock (that’s metal!). It wasn’t just any religion, it was a mystery religion, a religious cult in the Greco-Roman world. That sketches the background: mystery.

But the band Mytra is not just mystery. Its sound and music videos tie in to themes of the universe. But not in the science fiction way, more in a mythical way. Think of ancient astronomy, orbits, constellations, ancient Gods. It’s like they are all part of some divine or greater plan of mankind, but without being religious about it. It’s more mathematical, science oriented, yet at the same time mythical. The geometrical shapes, ancient writing, astronomical pictures and blue print of man in their Copernicus video support this, as do the titles of their songs: Sol Invictus (Unconquered Sun, some Roman god), Seraph (a type of celestial being in Judaism and Christianity), Copernicus (Nicolaas (a fellow-firstnamer of mine) Copernicus was an ethnical-German Polish canon priest and mathematician and astronomer in the fifteenth and sixteenth century) and Sagittarius (the ninth constellation in the Zodiac). The concept is clear, but also brilliant!

The atmospheric sounds in Mytra’s music draw a magical, mythical world in which you, as a listener, make a brave, discovering, voyage. Moments of amazement and moments of excitement alternate in songs that seem to take all the time in the universe but aren’t really all that long; around five minutes of length on average.

The drums in this form the steps in the voyage. There’s something special about them. They’re unlike any other metal drumming. They aren’t bashed, but played with the utmost care and gentleness. They are more ticking, the beats seem of shorter duration and the rhythms feature more rests. Tack – rest – Tack – rest Tack Tack. At times they shift the rhythm and become syncopated where the other instruments keep the “normal” pattern. And that sounds pretty damn cool I can tell you! Syncopates are great, Meshuggah is the proof of that, but in most metal it’s usually the guitars that shift whereas the drums stick to the original beat. Mytra does it the other way around and that doubles the magic already there.

To wrap up this article and to give you a taste of what I’ve been jabbering on about, the song Ecotone, the title track of their 2007 demo is a good demonstration of what I tried to explain. It takes you on a journey through space and time and the role of man in the universe. The video says it all!

You got completely burning hot for Mytra’s material? Good news then, their last two demos (five tracks each) can be downloaded for free on the band’s official homepage. Enjoy it!

Tags: Hungarian, instrumental, melodic, progressive

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