Mythology - The Castle of Crossed Destinies

Nobody knows their real names hidden by pseudonyms.

Nobody knows their origins.

Nobody knows when this album has been recorded.

Only two things are certain: first: this album is an incredible mixture of '70s hard rock, progressive rock with jazzy touches and a mystic atmosphere and second: the name is Mythology.

With an introduction like that, I'm interested.  I had a bit of a difficult time researching Mythology, mainly because The Castle of Crossed Destinies is actually a 1973 novel by Italian author Italo Calvino.  The novel is about a group of travelers who experience a traumatic event and go mute as a result.  They meet up in a castle and resort to telling their tales each through a series of Tarot cards, which are printed in the book's margin.  But who is the one narrating the description of the Tarot - is it the author, the character observer, or the reader?  Full disclosure, I did not read the book, but I would like to because it sounds interesting!

I am not certain, but I would assume this album is based on the novel.  This legendary recording obscurity can be streamed on Amazon Music HD, and that's exactly what I did before I did a little searching and found it available to own in CD quality FLAC on Qobuz. 

The only other tidbit of information I was able to dig up about Mythology is the lineup:

Chad Samoth - drums
Athos Sade - lead vocals
Lady Sif - backing vocals
Aton Dasha - guitar
Dan Moses - keyboards
Santo Asteda - bass guitar
Dana Shettom - sax, mellotron

 Let's get listening.

1)  The Castle of Crossed Destinies

I'm not even one minute into this album and I'm hearing great drums, keyboards, and heavy guitars that blow me away.  Follow all that up with some deep singing from Athos Sade that lies somewhere among the scoops and swoops of Ian Anderson, the over-the-top vibrato of Eddie Vedder, the tenacity of Jack Black, and the low growl of Jim Morrison.  Welcome to classic prog rock, baby.  "You can join us, but you have to lose yourself."

2)  Missed Chances

Some lovely wordless vocals by Lady Sif with a piano start things off followed by a symphonic riff with synth horns that prepares the listener for the battle to come.  The vocals are doubled an octave higher mostly through the track adding to the weirdness.  After a bluesy guitar solo, a killer saxophone solo by Dana Shettom rife with blue notes, trills, and bends plays off the other instruments, making things extremely jazzy and tasty.  There are a couple places where the rhythm section drops out and it's just sax with slight reverb alone before a jazzy drum beat and syncopated piano backing comes back in.  If you didn't know better you'd think you were listening to a jazz combo.  The symphonic riffs return to bring us out of battle and back home.

3)  The Moon

The short track The Moon is lush with instrumentation and vocal backing.  The brevity and calmness of the piece makes me think of the first part of King Crimson's Moonchild...or maybe it's the title...either way it's an enjoyable listen.

4)  Now I'm Blind

"I used to play with my goblins" ...or did he say goblets?  It doesn't matter.  Do I detect a harmonica in the background?  This team has all retro prog bases covered!  A stacatto riff heavy with bass and keys sets things in motion with a riff that reminds me of Sabbath's Snowblind...or maybe it's the title...  A solo with some of the craziest keyboard note bending by Dan Moses I've ever heard finishes off the song.

5)  The Emperor

Clocking in at just over 11 minutes, this track starts off with a synth lead effect that sounds very similar if not identical to the one (or ones) Tool used a few times on Fear Inoclulum.  Its shimmering overtones are a luxury to behold.

Some backing vocal with wide vibrato respond to the call of the lead vocal - The Emperor addressing his loving empire?  The beautiful synth lead voice returns halfway through the song with some faster paced drumming.  A slow tempo resumes with the highest vocals so far on the album.

The last third of the song features some Sabbath-esque vocals with guitars doubling.  "The Emperor is dead!" shout the people of the kingdom with sorrow...or is it joy?

6)  Don't Be Afraid

This track is short but trippy with the various instrumental voices and vocal backing.

Don't be afraid!  This album is really good and a lot of fun to listen to.  It accomplishes what a lot of modern retro-prog outfits tend to over promise on their albums.  From start to finish you feel like you are indeed listening to a record from the 70s, and that is a really good thing.  

I will admit I didn't dig the vocals at first, as they reminded me a bit of Bob Dylan, but the more I listened, the more I gleaned the different influences and realized they are just another small spice to the music and not the center.

I hope Mythology gets a chance to step into the limelight and enjoy the gilded stage in the future.  They deserve to be heard and enjoyed.

Mythology - The Castle of Crossed Destinies is available in CD quality from Qobuz, and on Amazon Music HD.