01	Mythoett						03:08
	02	Oriental Journey						08:15
	03	Hero's Death						09:47
	04	Encyclopedia Terra Part 1						10:16
	05	Encyclopedia Terra Part 2						07:25

MYTHOS
Personnel:
STEPHAN KASKE flt, kb, v, g
SVEN DOHROW g C
(HARALD WEISSE b) A
(ROBBY LUIZAGA b, g, kb) B
EBERHARD SEIDLER b C
(THOMAS HILDEBRAND d) A
(HANS-JURGEN PUTZ d) B
RONNIE SCHREINZER d C
ALBUMS (up to '76):
(A)same (Ohr OMM 556 019) 1972
(B)"Dreamlab" (Kosmische Musik KM 58 016) 1975
Stephan Kaske was 18 years old when he formed the first Mythos line-up in 1969 with Harald Weisse and Thomas Hildebrand. In 1971 they appeared live at a festival and attracted Ralf-Ulrich Kaiser's attention. This led to a contract with Ohr records. The first Mythos album was duly recorded during Autumn 197l. "Mythoett" starts the album in a manner very similar to Jethro Tull. This was a revised version of Handel's fireworks music, on which Kaske played brilliant flute. He would soon be celebrated as one of Germany's best flute players. "Oriental Journey" has an Eastern flavour, as the name implies. "Hero's Death" was, by the Mythos' standards, unusually guitar-dominated. Side two is filled up with "Encyclopaedia Terrae" This extended track tells the sad tale of our earth:

"A long time ago there was a man who didn't want to live in this world of killing and fighting anymore.
Fully convinced that mankind would improve and become more peaceful during its evolution and being a man of genius he built a machine winch would enable him to sleep as in death.
A hundred years later the machine was supposed to wake him, at that time he hoped to find a better world, one that would he worth living in.
One hundred years passed.
The machine woke the man, but although nearly everything had changed, mankind hadn't.
So the man returned to the machine, and kept returning to it, until the 36th time, when he woke to find that there was no more life on earth. There were no birds in the sky, no fish in the sea, no trees and no flowers. Man had killed all the plants, animals, and at last, even himself, leaving the earth a dead ball in the universe.
Seeing this, the man sat down on the bleak ground and tears run down his cheek His lungs inhaled the deadly smoke, and darkness closened about him, as he followed all the others to a place of no fighting and no killing. Would you like to know the name of this place? It's called the eternity, and the only gate you must pass through to enter it, is that one that separates life and death."

(From "Encyclopaedia Terrae")

Definitively a poetic way to finish a classic album - one of the best Ohr-releases! Truly indispensable! Late in 1972 the original Mythos split up. Kaske attempted to assemble a new trio at the beginning of 1973, but this came to nothing. Then in December 1973 he teamed up with Robby Luizaga and Hans-Jurgen Putz for the production of a television soundtrack for "Die Superspinne".

One of the tracks was later to be found on Dreamlab (1975), entitled "Eternity". This album, Mythos' second one, was released on Ohr's logical successor: Kosmische Musik. It was another great work of a more cosmic and spacey nature. However, Kaske himself thought of Dreamlab as a 'B-work' more than all ordinary Mythos album - pre-ordered by label manager Ralf-Ulrich Kaiser. The album cover was also Kaiser's decision: drawings of Tarot cards by Peter Geitner. Kaske soon separated from the two studio musicians he had worked with previously and produced further soundtrack works. In the Summer of 1976 he formed the third Mythos line-up with: Sven Dohrow, Eberhard Seidler and Ronnie Schreinzer. This was indeed a changed Mythos concept, now concentrating on shorter, more commercial and rock-based songs.




Mythos [Germany]
Updated 1/8/01
Discography
Mythos (72)
Dreamlab (75)
Concrete City (79)
Quasar (80)
Grand Prix (81)


Reviews
A very innovative ensemble led by Stefan Kaske, who put albums out slowly over the last twenty years. Their first two, Mythos and Dreamlab are generally regarded as classics, yet are very difficult to find. In the German Cosmic music vein.
Early 70's german group, their music was a combination of spacy classical influenced ideas and revved-up psychedelic jams, all very cosmic and sometimes unstructured. Of the albums Mythos and Dreamlab: They use guitars (acoustic and electric), percussion (lots of hand drums), flutes, organ, and what sounds like primitive electronics (theremins, etc.), with occasional vocals, sometimes spoken. Because of the strong forward presence of the flute, these may at times remind of early Tull or Focus, but Mythos' has a more improvised feel.
Mythos were a German band that released many albums. The classics are Dreamlab and, to a lesser extent, Mythos. Later albums apparently became much worse but they still seemed to find fans. The first two are very dreamy, cosmic albums typical of many German "space" bands in the early '70s. A variety of ethnic percussion instruments and acoustic guitar give a very earthy feel to the music which is balanced with ethereal flute and voices. You'll also hear moog and mellotron weave in and out of the spacious texture. If you're into the German "Kosmic Musiche" scene, search out Dreamlab and Mythos, preferably in that order.
Having listened to the first couple of albums, I prefer the self titled debut to Dreamlab. It has more variety, moving deftly from abstract ambience to exotic eastern raga (on "Oriental Journey") to full throttle Sturm and Drang. There are some great experimental electronic effects, as well as blistering guitar solos, especially in "Hero’s Death" and the side long "Encyclopedia Terra," as well as processed vocals, and other sonic treats. It’s a much darker, harder-edged album and much less compromising than the mellower Dreamlab. The albums after Dreamlab are supposed to be a lot more conventional and boring. -- Rolf Semprebon


==================



Mythos


Mythos did not reach the popularity of contemporary bands like Tangerine Dream or Ash Ra Tempel, which were founded in Berlin in the late '60s, too. Though with time, some of the albums have developed as classics and are reissued periodically. Different from other Krautrockers which elaborated a unique teutonic sound, Mythos, in part, had similarities with British and American bands and mixed the influences with their own music. Although the band has changed musical direction with time, there is a continuity, a transition from the early psychedelic music to the new age sound of the late '90s.
In 1996, Stephan Kaske did a cover version of Hдndel's "Feuerwerksmusik" with his M.A.S.S. side project, also featured on the first Mythos LP in 1971, although very different in interpretation. In 1969, high school dropouts Stephan Kaske (b. October 26, 1951), Harald Weisse, and Thomas Hildebrand, all musical autodidacts, formed the band in Berlin. After the release of their first album, Mythos, they supported British acts like Family, Colosseum, Humble Pie, and Steamhammer on many tours. The first lineup drifted apart after three years; a new one, which followed, did not release a record.

In 1975, Mythos got a deal with the famous/ill-famed label Cosmic Couriers, again presenting a complete new lineup around Kaske. Some soundtracks for TV films and documentaries followed. The instruments, up to then predominated by flute and guitar, were expanded by "cosmic" synthesizers now, accompanying the unusual and effect-laden vocals. The next lineup since 1976 lasted for three years and two records with Stephan Kaske on guitar, flute, keyboards, and vocals, guitarist Sven Dohrow, Eberhard Seidler on bass, and Ronnie Schreinzer on drums. The music got harder; the synthesizers were completed by hard rock guitars. After the permanent change of musicians, Kaske finally decided to part from the band in 1980 to do his own thing. The development of sequencers and drum machines made other musicians and the subsequent compromises unnecessary. Sven Dohrow and Ronnie Schreinzer founded the Twins; they changed to synth-pop, had some minor hits, and have remained sporadically active.

Stephan Kaske founded the Mythos Studio Berlin in 1981 and as it was a big success from the beginning, he had no time to record his music until 1989. Ideas and compositions were used for numerous radio and TV commercials. Meanwhile, Stephan Kaske has produced and cared for over 1,000 bands and artists in his studio. A new musical sign of life was a live-EP in 1989, followed by an album the next year. In the mid-'90s Stephan Kaske again concentrated on his own music that had changed a lot. He has released several albums of mediation/new age music. He has a side project, M.A.S.S., where he produces music ordered by record labels, like adaptions of Mozart, Hдndel, Beethoven, and others for synthesizer and covers of Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, or Ennio Morricone. Besides this, he has a techno project called Momentum. - Klaus Kehrle


1972 Mythos Ohr
1975 Dreamlab Kosm Musik
1978 Strange Guys Venus
1979 Concrete City Spalax
1980 Quasar Skyclad
1981 Grand Prix Skyclad
1990 Mythosphere Selected Sound
1995 Sound of Silence & Harmony Art & Music
1997 Purrr-Symphony Art & Music
1997 Silent Dreams K-Tel/Blue
1999 Wintermezzo Art & Music
1999 Le Printemps Mystique Art & Music
2000 The Dark Side Of Mythos Pastels

1989 Live [EP] Hits & Fun
1992 Synthesizer Highlights Sky s
1996 The Silence Of Dreams & Harmony... s
New Coming Babylon s



Mythos
Date of Release 1972

AMG EXPERT REVIEW: Mythos' first LP starts with a rock-meets-classic interpretation of Georg-Friedrich Hдndel's "Feuerwerksmusik" with Stephan Kaske playing the melody on the flute. "Oriental Journey-Hero's Death" presents Middle Eastern percussion, acoustic guitar, and flute. Sitar and Mellotron sounds add a psychedelic mood to the song. Like the following track, it paints a dark and pessimistic picture of the past and the future of the world. "Encyclopedia Terrae" is the highlight of the album and mixes quiet parts with power drumming, hard guitar riffs with sounds of war like marching soldiers, sirens, and bomb detonations. The text on the final sequence is inspired by H.G. Wells' novel The Time Machine. A man travels 3,300 years into the future to find a better world, only to discover a dead and destroyed planet at the end. Stephan Kaske sings in a proclaiming style, the voice treated with excessive use of reverb and phasing effects. By the way, this is an early production of Dieter Dierks, who later worked for bands like the Scorpions. - Klaus Kehrle