Mythorya is a 5-piece American metal band from Rome, New York, USA. The band formed in 2018 from a collection of down to Earth guys that have since crafted this current lineup into a group of extremely talented musicians who love music and have fun creating it. Right now, they just can’t get enough of Sleep Token, Gojira, and In Flames. Their unique brand of entertainment fuses melodic and gritty vocals with diverse passages comprised of multiple sub genres of metal and hard rock, a touch of electronic, and a hearty dose of in-your-face riffs. A Mythorya live performance combines an aural soundscape with a high energy stage presence that will move your body, captivate your mind, and free your soul. Now hailed as one of Central New York's most diverse metal acts, Mythorya was the only band from the United States invited to perform on the 2021 Argentina Online Music Festival, hosted on YouTube. Their first EP was produced by Jim Fogarty of Zing Recording Studios. Currently, the band is working on a new album that they plan to begin recording at Zing in July of 2023 with the intention of releasing singles until the now untitled album is complete.
"Swallowing Ashes" Single Review
The track begins with a Vein like opening as it finds its stride to kick things off. The first verse is fierce and bares its teeth with a steady stream of Metalcore before dipping down around the one minute mark to a more early Emery or Circa Survive like melody. The melodies showcase a tremendous amount of depth before blasting back into the tornado of heavy destruction with a nice simple breakdown closer to the two and a half minute mark. The breakdown gives way to the Metalcore, slightly Deathcore side of things due to its aggressive nature. The slower, emotional melodies come back out to play as the pacing controls the overall tempo. The chorus is easy to sing along to for sure. The last minute features a more early August Burns Red like breakdown as it has splendid guitar work and solos over top of a solid breakdown.
Verdict:
Their new single is a six minute romp through the Mythorya wilderness.
-Interview- (6/26/23)
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? Who thought of the name "Mythorya" and is there any meaning behind it?
Devon - I practiced every day, sometimes up to 8 hours, in my mom’s garage through middle and high school.
Eric J - I begged my father for a guitar after one of my friends brought one in for show & tell in middle school. As my skill level increased, my father kept his promise and an acoustic guitar was upgraded to an electric guitar. My love for music goes as far back as I can remember and the artists that I enjoyed from the early days include Phil Collins, Pink Floyd, Metallica, and Kiss.
Eric S - I had two old friends that were in a band together, one of which always left his drums at the other’s house that I visited regularly. One day, without permission, I began playing on the kit. Very shortly thereafter, I was asked to replace the drummer of the group and it was on from there! I idolized artists like Jose Pasillas and Danny Carey and strived to find my own unique sound, learning how to play without any formal instruction.
Josh - I am a 4th generation musician/performer that grew up in a family owned and operated music store. Trombone in the 4th grade didn't stick but the 9th grade electric bass sure did. Educated in music theory formally and self-taught instrumentally, I consider myself to be more of an entertainer than a run of the mill wallflower bassist.
Lu - My older brother was big into thrash/hair metal and played guitar. Growing up around him, a cousin, and an aunt in the music industry really gave me the urge to play music. It took me some time but I grabbed a guitar. It basically became my therapy… my escape from reality. And I knew at that moment that it was what I wanted to do.
Eric J - It’s now become a melting pot of musicians with different backgrounds coming together with similar end goals.
Josh - The original lineup had more of a flashy prog desire. There are still some holdovers in our set from that era and we have reinvented them, in a way, to make them more fun to play and more easily digestible to the audience. The new direction is to write material that we LOVE to play and can get stuck in your head. We've found that writing as a group has gotten better results than the original idea of 'this member wrote this song and 4 guys are just playing on the track'.
Lu - I’ve played in many bands. They range from rock to grindcore, death metal to hardcore, acoustic to radio rock. I feel that my sound is pretty well rounded and as far as my technique, I’ve picked up a few things from each genre.
Josh - We aren't really confined to one specific genre. Theoretically, we can freely move about the metal music soundscape. If anything, that would reinforce the mythological/polytheistic aspect of the name.
Lu - It was the brainchild of myself and the original drummer. We wanted a one-word band name that had a broad meaning (and sounded cool). Mythorya is actually a hybrid of two words: Myth and Theory. With a little alternative spelling Mythorya was born. I feel that it means ‘explaining a story’. And that is something that we try to do with our music. Every culture has its myths and its stories. We feel that leaves the realm open for a little bit of interpretation….
2. What do you want people to take away from your music?
Devon - Question everything. Find yourself. You are not alone.
Eric J - I hope when people listen to our music they feel something… anything.
Josh - The interpretation and inference that comes from the listeners side, not the artists, is both the enigma and the nirvana. We're going to write pieces and passages that move the listener, both emotionally and physically. Are they feeling what we did? Exactly how we feel it? How does it make the listener feel? Will that one lyric resonate with the listener exactly the same as it does with Devon? The answer is typically, ‘no’, and that is the beauty of being an artist, no matter what your medium. There is room for interpretation… and that is by design.
Lu - If people only take away one thing from our music, it’s that we are proud of the work ethic that we put into our craft and we hope the listener can appreciate that effort by enjoying themselves while listening to it.
3. How would you describe your sound to the average listener?
Devon - “Complex” is what I always hear.
Eric J - You’d have to hear it.
Josh - Devon is a great vocalist and a versatile screamer. That talent is evident throughout all of our material. Musically, we are expressing ourselves, and our individual influences and desires as a cohesive unit, instead of as a group of individuals. We complement each other musically and that will become more evident in all of our newer material. Our common thread will be using melodies, grooves, breakdowns, and the combination of multiple genres, with clean vocals/screams blanketed over the top.
Lu - I can’t really describe our sound… It’s always growing and maturing into what will one day be its final form. I have been told we kind of have our own thing going and I’ll take that all day.
4. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
Devon - Sleep Token, Spiritbox, and Jinjer.
Eric J - No one in particular.
Eric S - Deftones, Gojira, and First Jason.
Josh - Orbit Culture, Mudvayne, and In Flames.
Lu - Sleep Token, Katatonia, and Periphery.
5. How has Covid affected what you do?
Devon - We had more time to write and try out new band members.
Eric J - Too many ways to explain…
Eric S - Technically, I guess you could say it brought me out of retirement.
Josh - Personally, it was horrendous for some in our circles but Covid didn’t really have a negative impact on us band wise. In March, 2020, we (the original lineup) were in the studio in Massachusetts finishing production for our third release (Calumnium) from our self-titled EP. Within a week of returning home, quarantine had begun to start and everything was being shut down, including our rehearsal space. We all have DAWs and interfaces at home so we were able to keep working, writing, and making progress using file sharing. The fourth release (Impetus) was written and all of the pre-production recording was done individually. As a group, we didn't really begin interacting in person for about 6 months. We were offered the opportunity to be a part of a massive three-day online music festival hosted on YouTube in Argentina. We hired a local production group, rented a sound stage, and began rehearsing for our video appearance on the 2021 Argentina Online Metal Fest. The video was of a live performance in a closed venue. Aside from the band itself, crew and family were the only ones present at the video shoot. Finishing a song and having dead silence was truly the strangest part of participating in online entertainment. (The full performance is available for viewing on our YouTube channel). Fast forwarding to October, 2021 and the band had gotten out of quarantine and into the public arena. The culmination?? ... Everyone caught Covid at the same show. The lesson learned was not to share microphones!!! As of now, it appears to be the new normal and we’re looking forward to interacting with our fans, both new and old.
Lu - Covid affected our area pretty badly. A lot of venues closed and we have had to drive 45-60 + minutes to book performances. It also helped a little. When we needed to find new members, we had the ability to take our time to find the right people, which we did in finding ‘The Erics’.
6. What’s your take on the current state of Metal?
Devon - Unique/original bands are finally getting recognition. Bad Omens, Sleep Token, and Spiritbox are taking over right now.
Eric J - I don’t follow the news or current events.
Josh - Too many purists and gatekeepers. I think it's ok to like what you like and love what you love but too many people are fighting about what is 'best’ or ‘better’ or ‘good, bad and ugly'. We encompass so many sub genres in our style that we're either loved or hated for it because we're "not enough [insert adjective]" or “I don’t like anything with clean vocals”. That being said, there are so many awesome bands right now. The production quality of metal has gone through the roof but hasn’t sacrificed ANY of the quality of the writing and performance. Hip hop, RnB, and Country all have kids with laptops and a simple bedroom studio getting discovered and signed. Metal has that too. Due to the lack of mass appeal and marketing, it's just a slower discovery process. Metal is so damn good now... no matter what subgenre or level it is. Horns up!!!!
Lu - Metal is still strong. It’s huge in other countries and still placing high on the charts. Similar to the media, they pick and choose what they play in the states. This sort of put metal back into its underground status, but it is slowly making a comeback.
7. What's the current music scene like there in New York?
Devon - It’s there but it’s hard to find venues that will host original metal bands.
Eric J - Not sure.
Josh - Much quieter than it was 10 years ago. While there is life, certainly, it's a lot dimmer than it used to be. Metal has always been tough locally. Cover bands, Country music, and DJs rule the scene here in Central New York. Most of the shows are 5+ band shows that are all one genre. They feel more like a battle of the bands than an old fashioned 'let’s do this together' type of show. We should be brothers and sisters, not gladiators fighting amongst ourselves. A lack of venues certainly plays a part but it appears that the desire to go out and 'see a show' seems much lower than it used to be on the fan side. The 'old guard' would travel to see bands they liked and show up regularly. While this still happens, it seems much more infrequent. The jury is still out if that that's going to be the new post Covid normal? Maybe that's metal now? Maybe that's the future of live music? In the meantime, we're just going to keep making as much noise as we can and play our asses off for anyone that will watch/listen.
Lu - New York is pretty stale for original bands. There aren’t many venues to play. The bigger cities like Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo still have a decent scene. Outside of that, it’s rare to find anything major happening in smaller locales.
8. What’s your take on the royalties that streaming services pay out to artists?
Devon - Everyone’s getting screwed but I’m only doing this because I love performing and writing music.
Eric J - I have no take I am unaware of that world.
Josh - Selling a $5 cd in 2010 was huge in comparison. Our royalties don't even cover the fees that it costs to have the hosting of the online presence in the first place. It's great to be 'out there' and 'available' BUT we live in a disposable society now. Don't love it?? Next!! Don't like it?? Next!! There is so much music available that it's easy to get lost in the shuffle. A cog in the machine, if you will. We are forever grateful to be a part of the online streaming community but it doesn't afford us any luxuries outside of exposure for new growth or for our established listeners to listen at their convenience. It’s become the cost of doing business.
Lu - I think royalties are just a way that those companies can rob bands. Without bands, those companies wouldn’t even be in business. They do all the hard work and they take a huge cut for it. I’ve experienced it in an old project and it was laughable.
9. What's next for Mythorya?
Devon - Expanding our audience and playing more shows out of state.
Eric J - You would have to ask the band as a whole.
Eric S - Writing new material, recording and playing out in an attempt to reach as many ears as possible.
Josh - Studio. July, 2023, we track our new single, currently untitled, and work toward getting that released. Right now, we've got about 4-5 solid ideas on the whiteboard for new songs and we intend to start working them into the set. Once polished, we'll look into getting back to the studio with our producer, Jim Fogerty. Rinse...Repeat... We've had the pleasure of working with some great venues and promoters so far this year and we're excited to start booking bigger and bigger shows. The summary is new material, new merch, new shows, better production, and grind, grind, grind.
Lu - We’re hitting the studio hard so we can release new material globally. As for music, I feel we’re starting to hit our stride with our sound. We like the direction that we’re going and we’re going to move forward with it.
10. Any shoutouts?
Josh - The friends and family who babysit, attend the shows, work the merch table, take pictures/video, and crew for us. Those same friends and family that support us through all of the missed birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, Rehearsal Night dinners, weekend cookouts, and other life events we have missed or will miss.
Lu - My brothers in Mythorya, our producer Jim Fogarty, and my older brother (RIP) that pushed me to never quit… and to keep on keepin’ on.
