Was it based on personal experience or simply passive observation?

What happened in the recording studio or on stage to make one song sound different from the rest?

These are just some of the question bands and musicians attempt to answer in Line 'em Up - the newest page of The Power Of Metal.Dk.

This is where your favourite bands comment on their albums, track by track, because as someone once said, “Ideas are the building blocks of ideas”.

Enjoy!

Here’s a chance for you to tell our readers about your new debut album entitled: “The Awakening of the Beast”.

But could you please start off by introducing the readers to the band?

Mythery – The band was formed in 2010 by me, Nikolaj, who is the drummer and composer for the band. I am really into prog metal because of the energy and the epicness that is often present in this genre of music. I basically write both the music and lyrics and “call the shots” whenever it is needed in the band. I am fortunate to work with very talented musicians and we have a great understanding of each other. If you listen to MYTHERY, the first thing that might strike you as something new is the amount of violin in our music. It has kind of a folky touch to it, and gives a very powelful melancholy vibe to the music. Add some distorted guitars, fast drum fills and very heartfelt vocals to this, along with strings and bass tying it all together – and you have MYTHERY

Could you please give us some info on the album: Where did you record the album and who has produced and mixed it?

Mythery – The album was recorded at CSI Music just outside of Copenhagen in June 2012. In December 2012 our talented producer Kristian Martinsen finished the mixing process and, to us, he managed to give the music the exact vibe that we were looking for. Luckily, the people at Target Group, heard some potential in our music and the record deal was signed in April 2013. A perfect opportunity for us to get this debut album of ours to reach as many dedicated metal fans as possible.

And now onto your new album track-by-track, what inspired you, and what do what to express with this song etc.

01. Another Universe

Mythery – The opening track of the album is all about establishing our sound to the listener. It offers some interesting chord changes and the violin melody that follows each chorus is truly epic, if you ask me. The lyrics tell the story about a journey beyond anything imaginable – To me, it is as a sort of metaphor for what happens to me when I listen to music, but it is of course open to interpretation. A guitar solo in the middle of the song was cut out in the mixing process. Just a bit of bonus info!

02. Epoch of Destruction

Mythery – This song is a bit more up-tempo, a straight ahead heavy metal track. As I said earlier, I really dig the energy in metal music, and this song is all about that. Playing those drums in the verse always puts a smile on my face. The song has a great build up section towards the end and the final idea of playing the violin riff in half time is inspired by the MUSE song “Stockholm Syndrome”. Lyrically the theme is the worlds ending, as a result of the negligence we people have shown it.

03. The Crusade

Mythery – This song has a “hit single” vibe to it. A cool riff ties the song together. A mid-tempo rock tune with a very recognizable chorus. A beautiful middle section featuring the talented soprano singer Regina Fredriksson adds a very special vibe to the song and the lyrics tell the story of a people going to war, to fight for their right to freedom. We released a music video on YouTube for this song on the day that our record came out. It has already exceeded 4000 views.

04. Godforsaken

Mythery – This is the first tracks that offers a bit of the progressive stuff that this band has to offer as well. A solid guitar riff kicks off the songs in 5/4, and the beat that enters is powerful and in-your-face. This song also has quite a catchy chorus, but the odd time signature gives it an interesting kind of egde. I spend a lot of time figuring out the right groove for the bass and bass drum in the chorus and I ended up with the pretty odd ostinato that you hear on the record. Yet another piece of nerdy bonus info! The solo that Simon Rabenhoj plays is beautiful and mark the point in the story where the character, the godforsaken man, is salvaged from the burden of his sins, able to carry on with his life.

05. The Awakening of the Beast
  Pt. I: Overture

Mythery – The title track of the album is a kind of opera divided into five parts. The first one being an overture. In this song musical themes from each of the following parts of the piece are introduced. At first it might seem very confusing, but as you work your way through “The Awakening of the Beast” you realize how everything is connected. The overture was composed as the last part of the five, using the important musical themes of part II-V to piece it together. The idea of composing an overture was inspired by the 40-minute epic “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence”, written by my all time favourite band DREAM THEATER.

  Pt. II: A Dark Epiphany

Mythery – Moving on to part two of the epic. To understand the lyrical content you have to imagine living in a world ruled by two divine forces: one for good – The Brotherhood of Apotheosis – and one for evil – The Ghost of Iniquity. A long time ago they met in battle and as a result the Brotherhood managed to condemn the forces of evil to dwell in shadows – meaning that the evil exists, but cannot interact with the living. The Priest, who is introduced in “A Dark Epiphany”, however, gets in contact with these forces of evil and decides to awaken this darkness – the beast – by lighting a fire to the holy written scriptures. This song introduces a new level of MYTHERY proggyness and really gets the motor running.

  Pt. III: Awoken by the Fire

Mythery – The burning sound which you hear in the beginning of the track is the sound of the fire that has consumed the holy scriptures. In this part The Priest explains why he did what he did, and during the verses there is a very cool call-and-response thing going on in the vocals. This is to symbolize how The Priest has been taken over by another presence and how they interact with each other. This song features killer solos by keyboard player Mikkel Rosenbeck and guitar player Simon Rabenhoj. 

  Pt. IV: Through Shadow Eyes

Mythery – This song has a kind of ballad-feel to it. Originally it had a lot more punch, but I changed it into a more mellow piece in order for the entire epic to remain interesting. The instrumental interlude half way through yet again gets the prog motor running. Lyrically, the character “The Deacon” is introduced. He is addressed by one of the Brothers of Apotheosis who grants him with a remaining holy book consisting of shadow pages, that The Ghost of Iniquity does not know about.

  Pt. V: The Words of Salvation

Mythery – This final part of the epic features a lot of references to the piece in its entirety. The beginning is very low key and beautiful. The violin really serves its purpose here, in my opinion. As for the lyrics: with this new book in his hands, The Deacon heads out to meet The Ghost of Iniquity. As he recites the scriptures, light springs from within every lost soul and the shadows retreat into the arms of defeat. The ending is very grandiose and emotional and sums up the piece very well.

Tell us a bit about the artwork – who made it etc. and how important do you feel it is to have a cool artwork?

Mythery – I sat down with my brother Jacob Waage, who has a great talent for design and together we came up with something that matches the music very well visually. The circular burning logo on the front cover was something I had done, and it will be featured on future MYTHERY releases as well. I consider this kind of logo to be a “must have” when you play this type of music.

 Any last words you want to round this interview off with?

Mythery – Thank you so much to Powermetal for the opportunity. You guys ROCK! Keep doing that! \m/

Nikolaj Holger / MYTHERY

Kenn Jensen, October 2013