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MYTHRA BIO:

Current line-up
Barry Hopper (Drums)
John Roach (Lead Guitar)
Maurice Bates (Guitar)
Peter Melsom (Bass)
Vince High (Vocals)
Former members
Kenny Anderson (Drums) - 1976-1978
Mick Rundell (Guitar) - 1980-1980
Alex Perry (Guitar) - 1980-1981
Biography
Mythra's story begins around 1975 when John Roach (lead guitar), Pete Melsom (bass) and Maurice Bates (vocals and rythm guitar) decided to get together and form a covers band. Their project came to life in 1976 when they finished school. The band, known as Zarathustra, was completed by the addition of drummer Kenny Anderson. Around 1977/78, they decided to change their name to Mythra, and to enhance their sound by adding a dedicated vocalist - enters Vince High. Around the same time, Barry Hopper joined as the band's new drummer, in replacement of Kenny.

The band played a number of successful gigs in North Eastern England, still playing covers and some of their own material. The band only toured venues in their immediate region, playing with the likes of Son of a Bitch (which would later become known as Saxon), Raven and Georgie. At one point the band even took over the promotion work, organising their own gigs at venues where their younger fans could enjoy their now renowned live show. Such success didn't go unnoticed, and Terry Gavaghan, head of Guardian Records, suggested releasing a vinyl EP to get the band better known outside the North East and attract label interest. The original pressing in 1979 was a self-financed 200 copies which all sold locally. The demand for the EP was high and they soon started pressing more copies (there are reports of 15,000 copies selling in some 20 days - quite a feat for a band pretty much unknown outside their immediate region.) The "Death & Destiny" EP stood for over eleven weeks at number one in the Sounds Heavy Metal Chart (based on sales from record stores around the country.) This success soon exceeded the capabilities of Guardian Records, and a deal was signed with Pinnacle, which released "Death & Destiny" on 12" and 7" through their Street Beat subsidiary. Interestingly, while the 7" released on Guardian had all four song, the 7" on Street Beat only had three, omitting the song "Overlord". Again, the EP sold very well. Interestingly, the band never saw a dime of the royalties.

In February 1980, founding member John Roach left the band to return to college, although he would soon join Fist (formerly known as Axe.) He was replaced in Mythra by Mick Rundle, but this particular association was short lived, Mick being soon replaced by Alex Perry. Some politics and, most likely, money passing, prevented the band from a promising support tour with Ted Nugent. Despite the quality of the band's material (the EP was often referred to as "legendary", which is no exaggeration), Street Beat decided to not go ahead and release the band's next vinyl - just one of many insane label decisions to add to the history of the recording industry. Whether or not this had anything to do with John's departure - he was after all, the main songwriter, history doesn't tell. At the end of 1981, the guys called it a day, marking the end of one of the most promising NWOBHM bands.

Despite having only officially released four songs at the time, the band would influence the world of heavy metal, including a little outfit known as Metallica. Fast forward to 1998, the British Steel label goes ahead and releases the "Death & Destiny LP", a CD containing thirteen songs including the four songs from the EP. The other songs were obtained for the now-defunct Guardian Records archives, and some of the song names had to be guessed - incorrectly in some cases. The CD was released without permission from the band, although most likely without any intent on ripping them off since the booklet asked people who knew of the band members' whereabouts to have them contact the label...

Some 20 years after breaking up, the band re-united with the 1978 line-up and even went ahead and recorded a full-length album, "The Darkener", made up of eleven new songs. At the time of writing, the album still had not been released, the band still looking for a label to finally unleash the first Mythra full-length to the masses.


To be continued...