Mythra - Death and Destiny LP (1979)

"This New Wave Of British Heavy Metal band never achieved the greatness a band that sells 15,000 singles in 20 days deserves. They were formed in 1976 in South Shields, England by school friends John Roach (guitar, vocals), Maurice Bates (rhythm guitar, vocals), Pete Melsom (bass), and Drummer Kenny Anderson. Vince High (vocals) and replacement drummer Barry Hopper were recruited in 1978, as the band built up a following on the North East pub and club circuit, alongside acts such as Raven, White Spirit, Axe (later Fist), Son of a Bitch (later Saxon) and Geordie. A self financed EP, Death and Destiny, was released on Guardian Records in 1979, and proved to be one of the most outstanding records of the era. Roach left in February 1980, and was replaced by Mick Rundell, Their debut EP was reissued on Street Beat Records to coincide with the band's appearance at the Bingley Hall festival with Motothead. It, too, sold well and their battle cry of 'Death and Destiny' was sung by a thousand voices at the aformentioned gig. However, by 1981 their name was absent from the live listings, leaving the EP to command a high collectors' value and cult reputation. Metallica fans should track it down to see how much Kill 'Em All owes to this band. The British Steel label re-released the EP, with additional bonus tracks, in 1998." (Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock)
"In England between 1979 and 1980 with the explosion of the NWOBHM - abbreviation which indicates all the bands that took inspiration from colossuses like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest keeping punk (in late 70s' so famous) at a distance - musical scene caught fire with its every components. Radio stations gave wide space to that new emerging phenomenon, newspapers and magazines took an interest in it and, over all, a lot of record majors, smelling the business, specialized in new bands' promotion. Even if some of the above mentioned majors were repayed by their artists' sells - like EMI by Iron Maiden or Vertigo by Def Leppard (groups that after 20 years sign again for the same labels) - we cannot say the same thing for all those bands that signed for smaller labels and that have never had the opportunity to see their efforts rewarded by majors that could turn their songs to better account with good production and distribution. Because of all this, many bands never recorded an album and limited themselves to publish just some self-financed singles, often issued in few thousands copies. Among those unlucky bands are Mythra, unfortunately only authors of one excellent 4 track-EP pressed on both 7" and 12" format on Street Beat Rec. in 1980. Every 7" copy has its picture sleeve, while 12" copies don't have it except very few; the others have white unlabelled covers, like test-pressings. The picture sleeve present a photo of the band on one side and band's logo (a sort of griffin) on the other. Copies without covers are not reissues and copies with picture sleeves include also a white inner. Even if Street Beat's small budget didn't permit to press a cover for every record, sound's production is very good, especially if we think that it was recorded in an 8-track studio and mixed by the members of the band themselves. Mythra's style is a classic early 80s' British heavy metal not very different from other NWOBHM bands' one, such as Jaguar or Raven, with the difference that Mythra didn't have the opportunity to record other albums or singles and their career started and finished with the "Death & Destiny" EP. A real shame, because, listen to all the 4 good tracks on the single, we have the sensation that if they had recorded an album, it surely had been one of the best products of that period. After the EP's issue Mythra disbanded and made us lose their trail too early." (Luca Di Palma)

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