KEY OF MYTHRAS


Key Of Mythras is the key to unlock the power and reveal the secrets and I think it's very suitable to a band playing a fine mix of extreme black and enchanting, atmospheric melodies. Their debut album will be soon released so keep your eyes and ears open and read the interview below...


1.HELLO DUNCAN! BEFORE KEY OF MYTHRAS YOU WERE A MEMBER OF ANOTHER BAND WITH THE NAME SANGUIS. CAN YOU GIVE ME SOME MORE INFO ABOUT THIS BAND AND YOUR RELEASES WITH THEM? 
  • Hi Nick! Well, with Sanguis I recorded the first demo "Mortal Art of blood" and the first version of the debut album "Chaosgate guardians". The music is swedish inspired Black Metal with good melodies and a cold atmosphere in a good fitting sound. I did the vocals on both releases, but they re-recorded the debut album with another vocalist after they kicked me out of the band, so my name is not featured on the album. That was a little sad for me because I also wrote the lyrics for this two releases, but now I don't care about it anymore because I focus on my own band.
2.WHICH WERE THE REASONS THAT LED YOU TO YOUR DEPARTURE FROM THE BAND? IS IT THAT PERHAPS BLACK METAL DOESN'T FULLY EPXRESS YOU ANYMORE OR DIDN'T YOU HAVE THE ARTISTIC FREEDOM THAT YOU WANTED? HOW ARE YOUR RELATIONS WITH THE REST OF THE GUYS?
  • The main reason was that I didn't want to change my style of vocals, because at his time I was fully into singing like Dani from Cradle of Filth and the others didn't like his style, so they said change your style or go. A few months after the split I decided to never use vocals like the above mentioned on my own album so the split was a little useless, but now I am really glad with the decision. Because of the fact that we got no real personal problems the relations between me and Sanguis are good, and I know Svart, which played the drums on my album too, since 8 years so we never had a relationship which ended in anger. I am also still in contact with the other Sanguis guys.
3.FROM THE BAND BIO THAT I READ, I UNDERSTOOD THAT YOU ARE THE ONLY PERMANENT MEMBER IN KEY OF MYTHRAS AND YOU GET OTHER PEOPLE TO HELP YOU WITH THE DRUMS AND KEYBOARDS. AM I RIGHT? DID YOU PLAY ALL THE OTHER INSTRUMENTS? IS KEY OF MYTHRAS YOUR PERSONAL PROJECT OR ARE YOU PLANNING TO RECRUIT MUSICIANS AND BECOME A "NORMAL" BAND? WHO WERE THE PEOPLE THAT HELPED YOU DURING THE RECORDING SESSIONS?
  • Yes, I am the only real member, and I played guitars, bass and do the vocals, but I always say that Svart is a "full time session member" because when it comes to record something I always can count on him. The idea of using a keyboard, which is only used in the intro, came when I meet Julia at a beer session in a local club. She told me that she has written an intro for another band but they didn?t call her about this so I asked her to play it on my album and she agreed. I don?t know if I will use a keyboard on the second album, because Julia lives now on the other side of Austria and it would be hard to coordinate. If there comes a good offer for a gig, I will check out to get some musicians but I think this will not be before summer 2004.
4.YOUR DEBUT ALBUM IS CALLED "DEMONSPEED METALSTORM" AND I COULDN'T IMAGINE A MORE SUITABLE TITLE TO   DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC. GIVE US SOME INFO ABOUT IT. WHERE WAS IT RECORDED, WHO WAS THE PRODUCER, HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU, WHEN WILL IT BE RELEASED AND UNDER WHICH LABEL? ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE FINAL RESULT?
  • "Demonspeed Metalstorm" was recorded in Mould Fungus studios in Hainfeld/Austria in about 8 days and after I signed to Pulsar Light  Records from Italy they re-mastered the album in the Temple of Noise studios in Rome. In the austrian studio, I produced the album myself with a little help from Svart because of the drum sounds and Roman Hutterer, the owner of the studio, who helped me when it comes to technical questions. In Rome, Mike from Pulsar Light Records worked with a technician and remastered the album about 15 times to get the best sound and I must tell you, that they did a great job. I am really satisfied with the result. The release date will be published in the midst of september.
5.I HAVE ONLY LISTENED TO THE SONG "HECATES CHAMBER" BUT I CAN TELL YOU HAVE MANAGED TO DO SOMETHING GREAT! YOU MANAGED TO COMBINE EXTREME WITH CLASSIC METAL, WITHOUT THE SOUND LOSING ITS ROUGHNESS AND BRUTALITY. HOW EASY WAS THIS FOR YOU? DO YOU CONSIDER THAT THE MUSIC YOU PLAY IS CLOSER TO CLASSIC METAL OR A HYBRID BETWEEN EXTREME AND MORE MELODIC SOUNDS OF THIS GENRE?
  • Thanks for your good critics. What you heard was not the final version of this song, because I sent the promo edition to Ruslanas from Atlantida before the remastering process, so you can be curious about the sound of the final version. I only start to jam on my guitar and when I play something I like I write it down to use the riff in a song or work on it to make the riff a little better. Sometimes I jam for 10 minutes and got three new riffs but on the other side it could last weeks to finish a new one. It depends on my mood and my practising eagerness. I would say that it is extreme music, but also with good melodies and a very classic Metal attitude.
6.AS A BIG RUNNIG WILD FAN, I CAN'T RESIST TELLING YOU THAT YOUR SONG "HECATES CHAMBER" IS STROGNLY INFLUENCED BY THEM. AM I RIGHT? WHICH OTHER BANDS DO YOU THINK HAVE INFLUENCED YOUR SOUND AND ATTITUDE?
  • I am also a fan of Running Wild, "Under Jolly Roger" was one of my first metal records, but I think I am not really influenced by them.  Because of the fact that I listen to nearly everything in the metal genre, I am influenced by everything, but I will never forget my roots, which are the bands from the whole 80s decade. My attitude is also  based on the bands from the 80s, the whole Sex,drugs and Rock?N Roll thing. Metal till the end!
7.WHERE ARE YOUR LYRICS REFERRING TO? WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE LYRICS?
  • All my lyrics deal with the dark side. They are stories which came to mind in different situations. It could be when I sit in front of the TV or when I am fucking a girl. The lyrics for the song "Behold the pentagram" came to my mind when I was sitting in my room and looking constantly at the pentagram which hangs over my entry door. You see, there is no real specific inspiration situation needed.
8.MYTHRAS IS THE NAME OF A GOD WORSHIPED IN ANCIENT EAST. ARE YOU AWARE OF IT? DO YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST IN THE EASTERN MYSTICISM AND RELIGIONS?
  • For sure I know the pre-christian cult of Mithras. It was a cult for roman warriors only which sacrificed bulls to their god to get his powers and feel undefeatable. That's the same principle like the german warriors did, and the Oskorei from scandinavia. I wouldn?t use the name if I knew nothing about it, but there are some secrets about the Mithras cult left so a mythos was created. This two words inspires me to combine them, Mithras + Mythos  = Mythras, and so you can understand the bandname more as a synonym for Key to secrets, power and wisdom.
9.YOU PARTICIPATED IN A COMPILATION CD "ATLANTIDA VOL. 20". HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS PARTICIPATION FOR YOU? DO YOU THINK THAT THERE STILL ARE PEOPLE INTERESTED IN BUYING COMPILATION RELEASES?
  • I think compilations like this are a good way to make your band get better known all around the world, so my participation on this sampler is a really cool thing. Especially because the debut album is nearly ready to be released. If people are interested in buying compilation releases? I hope so.
10.WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO SOMEONE UNAWARE OF YOUR MUSIC, IN ORDER TO INTRIGUE HIS INTEREST? WHICH IS YOUR MOST RECOGNISABLE ELEMENT?
  • If the person likes hard Metal sound, it should be no problem to get his/her interest. A lot of people who listened to the album, told me that they think it?s very unique, but also very straight forward music. A friend of mine, told me that he would compare my music a little to Impaled Nazarene but thats only a far away thing, to get only an idea about the music.
11.IF YOU HAD A PROPOSAL TO DO A VIDEOCLIP, WHICH SONG OF YOURS WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND HOW DO YOU IMAGINE IT TO BE?
  • I've never thought about making a video, but I think the song "Necrotica" must be a really funny one. Check out the lyrics and you know what I mean.
12.IF WE ARE ALL JUST A WORD IN THE GREAT BOOK OF CREATION, CAN YOU SAY WHICH WORD COULD DESCRIBE YOU BETTER? CAN YOU ALSO IMAGINE WHAT KIND OF AUTHOR WOULD BE THE CREATOR OF THIS BOOK AND WHY?
  • The author must be the great Metal god in person, and I hope he wouldn't use the name asshole for describing me. Harhar
13.IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO TRAVEL BACK IN TIME, WHICH HISTORICAL PERIOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT AND WHY?
  • I don't want to live in an other time, because I think I will miss the whole techincal things which we got today. For sure, for example medieval times must be interesting but I think that this is not so romantic like we usually think of it.
14.DO YOU THINK THAT PERHAPS GOD GOT SO FRIGHTNED FROM WHAT HE CREATED THAT HE MOVED TO HEAVEN IN ORDER TO KEEP DISTANCE FROM HIS CREATIONS? :))
  • I don't care about christianity anymore. It is no longer interesting for me. Also I didn't care about any other god. But when there is a god  I think, at least when he looks down on me, he is for sure no longer proud of his creations and he fear his own mess. God is dead, I ate him!!! harhar
15.LET'S SUPPOSE THAT WE LIVE IN A WORLD WITHOUT MUSIC. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IN SUCH A CASE?
  • I would be dead! I can not live without music, I am addicted to METAL!
16.IF YOU WERE A FLY, WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE AND WHY?
  • I want to be in a locker room for girls, I think you know why. Hehe
17.WHAT TITLE WOULD YOU GIVE TO YOUR CAREER?
  • Metal Fucker out of hell!
18.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?
  • Thanks a lot for this interesting interview. Check out my hompage www.keyofmythras.tk for information and news about the release date.
Nick  "William_Kidd"  Parastatidis  
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