Beginning on the verge into something innovative and otherworldly, the band MITHRAS invokes countless images not only with their sole approach of music capacity and lyrical configuration of spirituality. MITHRAS shows to the advance spiritualist of death metal a new way of formation into things unforeseen through their latest release Worlds Beyond The Veil, a complete summation of who they are. Upon listening to this awe-inspiring soundtrack of inner planes to soul intrusion never felt MITHRAS gave a more in depth experience than what was expected. Songs compiled in formats of eerie battles of internal judgment of the psyche can only be manifested in such a way that MITHRAS is the band that best explains the mystery behind such Worlds Beyond The Veil. Letting the soul dance to the rhythms of places past I had the chance to ask none other than MITHRAS’s own Leon Macey of what makes the band so beyond the veil.

Jessie: What was the concept and meaning for the band name?
Leon: Originally we were called ‘Imperator’ which meant ‘Emperor in times of war’ in ancient Rome. We then changed the name and wanted to keep the roman connection so we chose MITHRAS who was a hidden Roman god.

Jessie: Seeing that the band is venturing more into the realms of spirituality and some sort of mystical awareness that seems to be apparent with the song content, why is that?
Leon: We are just following the path our music and beliefs have evolved down. At the time of writing and rehearsing Worlds Beyond The Veil we were really into the subject matter in a personal sense, so it was the right content thematically for the band to follow.

Jessie: Give and take that the new release has been labelled uniquely diverse; are there certain elements that the band creates with the technical aspects of the music?
In silence he ponders the question to depths more acute becoming conscious of the moment that arises to such contemplation descriptions Leon verbally engages forth words that describe the answer to the question.
Leon: Hmm…. I’d say that the technical side of the music is just intrinsic to the style itself. We create the soundscapes that are present in the main songs by using guitars, not keyboards as some people suggest. The keyboards only feature on some intros and the instrumental songs.

Jessie: Since the live drummer has left and that has been over 4 months, was it difficult finding a replacement to fit within the mix?
Leon: We haven’t found a replacement for our live drummer yet due to the high technicality and sheer speed of our music in terms of hand and footwork (often exceeding 1100 hits per minute). This won’t affect our recorded output as I play drums and guitars on all our albums. Any drummer applications to drummer@mithras.org.uk please.

Jessie: Band seems to do well musically since the band is multi-talented since it comes to being diverse in instruments as well as playing abilities, do you find that somewhat difficult when trying to convey a musical image thought form to the members that are assisting with the live sound on stage?
Leon: Yes we do find it difficult to convey live. It’s difficult taking music written and performed by 2 people and trying to explain the context and meaning of the songs to other people, let alone attempting to explain the technicalities and nuances of certain parts of the performance (i.e. the cymbal work on the drums). Our old live drummer hadn’t even partially realised the drum parts as they are on the album.

Jessie: Lately the band has been taken under Candlelight Records, what was that like since signing a 3 record deal?
Leon: It was great. It’s cool to be on a bigger label with larger advertising budgets and amazing distribution, hopefully all the people who complained they couldn’t find our albums will be able to pick them up now. We signed for 3 more albums which was a massive undertaking indeed. We are working on album 3 now, watch this space!

Jessie: Was it hard leaving Golden Lake Productions?
Leon: It wasn’t hard per-se, but we had a great time on Golden Lake and had a cool working relationship with them, and we are still in touch. They really helped us get where we are today by releasing Forever Advancing ... Legions in 2002 and then Worlds Beyond The Veil in 2003.

Jessie: Congrats on the new forums that the band has with the new website, now that is a much awaited add on for the band…why so long to get one?
Leon: Simply because of the amount of time and administration it takes to set one up, so much so it’s not something I have time to do myself. The forum is run by David Toozey who is a big fan of MITHRAS, and it’s working out great and growing all the time. There’s an ‘ask MITHRAS’ section where people can ask us questions which is pretty cool.

Jessie: Asides from band obligations and day jobs, I see that you both Lee de Caine and Leon Macey have own studio production company. How’s that like?
Leon: It’s very small at the moment due to band obligations which take up most of my time and our work. We will hopefully have a new location for the studio next year and will be able to start producing and recording bands, as at the moment all we are offering is mastering (www.dreamingstudios.co.uk).

Jessie: Band has now released some prior material through Candlelight - the 1st 2 albums Forever Advancing ... Legions and Worlds Beyond The Veil, what is the bands take on the 2 being re-released?
Leon: Candlelight records are firstly re-releasing Worlds Beyond The Veil on 08/03/04 (we only finished recording Worlds Beyond The Veil in September 2003, so it’s still a new release); then Candlelight are re-releasing our debut Forever Advancing ... Legions on 17/05/04 which is great as I’ve re-mastered the album a bit and will now be able to reach a much larger audience. The packaging has been redesigned and has a totally new and vastly improved layout and artwork; it features the original art done by Desmond Sia (of Angelcorpse and many others art fame).

Jessie: For me the while listening to MITHRAS, I was so taken in for the fact that when hearing the CD for the 2nd time it has an entirely different feeling the next time around … like none that I came across. Were there certain energies while recording of the album that gave it the feel for what it creates to the listeners that the band was trying to express musically?
Leon: We put a massive amount of energy both mentally physically and spiritually into the album which I think carries across when you listen to it more than once; it takes time to hook you in and for the trancelike elements to really start working and lodge themselves in your brain. There are a lot of elements to the music that only reveal themselves after listening repeatedly and perhaps even in headphones.

Jessie: As to the kind of music the band creates, is there something else that the band wants to do besides what MITHRAS is doing in a musical sense?
Leon: Not as MITHRAS, we are very happy with how MITHRAS is progressing, but all of us have musical interests outside MITHRAS which some of us pursue more avidly than others :)

Jessie: What do you think of the UK metal scene since there are upcoming bands that seem to be catching of the musical metal band wagon?
Leon: I don’t really know much about the UK metal scene, other than the extreme side. It does seem that there are a lot of upcoming bands, such as Detrimentum, The Enchanted and Pulverised etc.

Jessie: As far as originality where do you see MITHRAS within the next 4 years?
Leon: I really don’t know, I’d imagine in 4 years we will be close to finishing album 4 and who knows what that will be like in any terms!

Jessie: Any plans to play outside of the UK and Europe?
Leon: Not as yet, once we find a live drummer we would like to do some UK shows and then take it from there. I’d love to tour but at the moment it’s just not viable.

Jessie: What can one expect from MITHRAS?
Leon: Soundscapes from another world mixed in with brutal extreme metal like a whirlwind of blast beats and double bass with ethereal harmonies over the top.

Jessie: Band influences?
Leon: Speaking for myself, Slayer and Vio-lence really influenced me on guitar then death metal like Morbid Angel. Drum wise my favourite drummer is Pete Sandoval from Morbid Angel.

Jessie: Was there something that the band wanted to achieve with this record that they did not get the chance to do?
Leon: No, we are really pleased as it turned out exactly as we wanted it too musically and production wise. We learnt a lot from the recording sessions, and it gave me some good ideas about how to proceed with album 3 in terms of recording and production.

Jessie: Band seems to be drawn to thought provoking ideas and concepts within the words as well as music, do you draw from personal influence as certain belief as well as aspects into the unknown that makes the music of MITHRAS so deep and self reflecting?
Leon: Yeah, we put a huge amount of our personal beliefs into MITHRAS. The music has a real sense of reflection in it, especially a piece like ‘Search the endless planes’ which really takes you somewhere else.

Jessie: In 6 words or less can you describe MITHRAS?
Leon: Brutal experimental epic extreme metal!

Jessie: Thanks Leon for I appreciate the time that you gave here, thanks again for being way extreme in a MITHRAS sense. Many bright blessings to all that you do and to the band!

4/2004 © Jessie Gough • Mithras •