THE LEGEND OF SCYTHE
The original idea of Scythe was formed in the unholy year of 1999. The year of the second coming of the Antichrist - foreshadowed in the saga, the End of Days. (The reason being of course; 999 is an even more evil 666, or they turned the page upside down, or something).
Chapter I - The Legend of Ivan, The Great
Laying the foundation
Ivan's journey started with the gayest & most charming moment of Scythe's history, in The Cave of Gyula. The bottomless cave echoed from Erik’s heroic statement: “I want to create a black metal band, that none have seen before..!”. Upon hearing the mighty plot Ivan's heartbeat got faster, his breathing slightly heavier, his eyelashes moving up and down, the pupils dilating and then - between two nervous laughs - the words finally left his mouth: “do you have a singer yet?” The mighty dungeon master did not know much about the young chronicler, but he was immediately intrigued. Word of mouth told that Ivan often indulged in drinking from early afternoon, throwing rocks around, sleeping on playgrounds and that he got lost on the (straight) way home several times.
The stubborn guitar-god’s face was full of doubt, despite witnessing all that, Ivan continued; “No, but seriously though, if you need a singer with a brutal voice don't look no further!” At this point, we have to mention, that Erik was not the type of bloke who gets fooled by fireworks and fanfare; thus, he was not convinced yet...
Scythe performing in the voodoo club
Leaving meat, alcohol and every type of smoke behind, one night he found himself in the grasp of The Goblins & Gnomes of Fót. With his newfound purpose, he started preaching about the clean & sober life to the wretched audience - while sending down one glass of wine after another. Naturally when Ivan, The Great engaged in such activities he did not stop until limb-paralyzation. Lo and Behold, the grotesque horde overwhelmed the frontman’s will of glory! Confused & broken, he somehow managed to break out of the claws of Fót. But his punishment was not over; he still had to reach home, amidst clouds of vomit, fainting, and disapproving citizens.
This was the moment in Ivan, The Great’s journey when he knew; his damnation is complete. Alas! It all came earlier than expected, way earlier.
Chapter III. - The Golden Fever
Humble beginnings
Carrying the spirit of darkness in his soul he went to the lair of Erik to record the first demo tape. Inspired by his adventures in the underworld the first song manifested, The Wretch was finally born. Erik started to see his diabolical plan finally unfold in front of him. “I will conquer at the end” - he whispered in the mist. Concluded from the successful quest, The Death Bar seemed to him like an excellent breeding ground for Scythe. He was planning to also find the rest of the band there. Shortly after, he had to realize that the only value left to be found in the Death Bar was himself and his singer.
Right around this time a rumor was passed down from mouth to mouth. They whispered, that there is another blackster lurking in the Cave. This necromancer of a musician was Balage the Wizard of Shredding. Exhilarated by the news the infernal duo tracked him down. He had the privilege to be the first man to listen to The One Demo Tape. Upon hearing the pestilent sounds, he was sure in his mind, that there will be no match for the unchained brutality of Scythe (though, he could not have been more wrong...). From that point on Balage helped the band to make better sounding material with true passion and belief. His lair became the main location, until they found the rest of the crew. The songs just kept coming and also going… like the Soothsaying of Seasons, which was a mountain too high to climb for the lads. The Wretch was dismembered into two songs. It died and gave birth to the Feast and Cockroaches.
Erik
Chapter V. - The Touch of the Dark Angel
Unholy matchmaking of kisses and bluffs
Like many stories in the history of Time, David's journey began with a woman. The mysterious gothic nymphet, Demona, lured him from the wilderness of the streets of Budapest. The magical fairy of darkness knew Scythe is looking for a bass player. Being the benefactor of nature that she is, led him to the inn where lots of adventures arose, The Ringer.
Erik had a bullet-proof method for testing David’s skills upon entering the band. The mighty guitar warrior asked a challenging question from the young candidate; “Can you slap and tap on the bass guitar?” Without any hesitation David answered: “Of course!” Erik was then assured. Years later, David learned the meaning of those words.
Chapter VI. - The Fate of the Preacher
Completing the crew
Greg, The Thief Of Hearts' story began in a student pub called Student Pub, a meeting place of the Budapest metal underground. With such an unimaginative name they renamed it to The Ringer, the reason simply being that you had to ring at the doorbell before entering the establishment - oh, so much more thought and quality!
Initially, Greg was trying to make peace between the Satanists and the Christians on a mailing forum of the Hungarian magazine called Metal Hammer. On this forum he saw an ad of a childhood nemesis called Kristof, the Wise. He was looking for friends listing Opeth as a favorite band amongst others. Greg did not forget that their last encounter ended with Kristof, the Wise throwing a school-chair at him. He dodged the attack, but - I mean - still, come on... Letting go of this old grudge he wrote a mighty email at the free internet portal of the mall.
To test the young candidate’s resilience Erik cordially invited him to the Death Bar. The virulent apprentice did not shy away from a challenge. Wearing his surgery inflicted battle-wound like a badge, carrying a bible around (for some reason), he showed up at the bar on time & ready. To be frank though, towards the end of the night, he was slightly horrified.
The blacksters had a last mission to embark on. They needed to restock the ever depleting synthetic wine-supply. Along the path of this endeavor Ivan finally cast his diabolical scream out to the mountains. The sound of his voice was so strong, that it shook the Seventh Circle of Hell. Suddenly, all the signs of unbelief disappeared from Erik’s face, and he welcomed the new frontman of Scythe, ascending to a cloud of glory.
Love and happiness filled the air, but the series of challenges did not end for Ivan just yet... The next few weeks & months he became well acquainted with the creatures of Fót, just after he turned his life around.
Chapter II - The Inauguration
A quest to test the will
Most rock stars first get the fame, the money, then they get their heads too high up in their asses, ultimately resorting to alcohol, drugs and prostitutes. And then, just then, after all of that; they start sobering up. Not our hero, Ivan, The Great. He didn't even wait until the first note to get written.
The original cover of the debut material
Chapter IV. - The Curse of Scythe
Finding a black metal drummer
Many epic guitar battles took place in the Lair of Balage. you could pinch the tension in the air between Erik and him, as he cast his eye on Erik’s solo and plotted how to humiliate him in the next round, wearing only t-shirt & underwear, eating spicy paprika on a loaf of bread.
Along these rehearsals, they had to realize, that the creation of these songs doubled as a torture device for the surrounding habitants of the lair. Soon the band had to leave. The first rehearsals with drum computer were nothing short of catastrophes. It was also a hindrance that Balage lost the initial enthusiasm and was late by almost an hour to the first rehearsal.
They also had to face the stealing, cheating troll, Gyuri, the Wolf, who applied for the still open position of the drums - while also claiming, that btw. he is a doctor, and he can get a real human skull from work. The Wolf tried getting some money out of them and even managed to steal a black metal relic from David. By the time of the last arranged meeting came along, he sensed that his cover has been blown and did not show up. A month after his disappearance, he called Ivan one last time, sobbing and gasping. He claimed that his girlfriend has left him, and he is considering ending his own life. Ivan only had two words for him: “Do it.”
In the course of the next few weeks betrayed and exhausted Erik wandered through the Budapestian night. He found himself at the edge of the Metropolis. Feeling thirsty and worn down he decided to take a rest in an almost empty bar, the Total Metal Club. That's where he found Bence The Barbarian. This hairy mountain of a man looked really menacing - and he also seemed to know what he's talking about. Erik the mighty dungeon master got so excited that he forgot to take the drummer's phone number.
Following that grave mistake, a month of sorrow came down upon him. One night he went to the hills to drown his sadness in synthetic wine. The wind was strong and plenty, and he was the loudest among all the trolls, shouting out all his demons and losing his voice in the process..
Returning from the hills, his path lead through the Underworld of Budapest. Fate had to mock Erik once more... While his descent to the maze, he saw the giant again. He shouted so hard, that his eyes bled, but out came no sound... His gigantic shadow disappeared in the bleak crowd of the Underworld. The thoughts came rushing in; "Was it real? Did I just dream that? It was him, god damn it, I am sure of it!" Soon enough, sadness turned into madness and he found himself spending more & more time in the Underworld, hoping to catch a glimpse of him once again. And one day there he stood, towering over the masses. Following true despair this second meeting was cathartic, although - spoiler alert - the giant never got to see the stage with Scythe.
David
Yes - kids - back then, we, metalheads were so few and far between, that we had to find each other through printed magazines’ ad sections. We had to stand there at the mall's free net-consoles to get internet (I’d still choose that over having to go to the shrink because of social media-induced anxieties).
On one of their music critiquing sessions, Kristof played Scythe's One Demo Tape to him and also mentioned that they're looking for a keyboard player. They quickly arranged the meeting in The Ringer.
Kristof was introduced to the band by Demona, who he knew from their youngling years. This dark nymph was the key to all of this. All along, she was the mother-spirit of Scythe, and the bastards let her disappear in the fog...
TO BE CONTINUED...