Kevin Codfert of Myrath checks in from Basinfire Fest!

Tunisian Progressive metallers delivered a cathedra set at Basinfire Fest, first time experience their show, they blew me away not only because of the histrionic and powerful set but the musicianship to play this kind of music always left me on awe. With songs like; Into the Light, Born to Survive, Child of Prophecy, Tales of the Sands, Merciless Times and Believer they were able to put up an amazing prog party. 

Before their set, we had the chance to chat with Kevin Codfert, keyboardist of Myrath, we talked about their summer dates, Karma, their last time they came to Czech Republic and their future plans

Miguel Metal Heart Radio: Hey guys, welcome to the Czech Republic, welcome to BasinFire fest, definitely a thrill to have you here. I know that you guys have been, you know, doing a little bit of summer touring right now. How do you feel about the touring so far?
Kevin Codfert: I mean, the touring started great. We already played in Germany, so we do Czech Republic today, and we have other festivals in Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden also. So it's always a pleasure for us to play festivals, because it's a way to try to provide your music to people that don't know the band.

MHR: It's important. I think last time that Myrath was here was with Kamelot in 2023, and Eleine. What do you remember about that show at Meet Factory? 
KC: I think it was in Prague, right? Yeah, I mean, you know the crowd here. It's quite special. It's quite special, so it's... For example, each country you play, you have a different sensation from the audience. For example, when you play France, it's the opposite of South America, for example. But I think in Prague you can have this feeling of countries on the south of the earth, but it's not in the south of the earth. Yeah, that's the thing. 

MHR: Karma was released last year. How has been the fan reception so far to the record? 
KC: It was great. We took some risks with Karma, because as a musician you have two options. The first option is to do over and over again the same album, so it can suit perfectly what the fans are expecting. Which I think is safe, but wrong, from a musician and composer perspective. So with Karma, if you heard the album, we tried different stuff, we tried some djent stuff, more metal stuff, there is a little bit less African influences in this album, but that was the way we wanted to compose this album, and in fact what we can see after one year is that our original fans are enjoying this when we play this live, and new people discover the band. So I think it was a great way to compose and change a bit what we wanted to do.

MHR: What is your favorite track to play live from the album? 
KC: As a pianist, I would say Into the Light, because of the piano part, but I enjoy all the songs, of course. 

MHR: Are there any plans for a Myrath tour? Like I'm talking about maybe a headlining or a supporting in the foreseeable future? 
KC: Yeah, we are working hard on many stuff I can't disclose right now, but many many stuff are gonna happen quite soon. 
MHR:I remember it was 2013 that you guys play at ProgPower USA and it was the opening for the American market. Then you guys come back a few years later, right? 
KC: We played three times there. The first time it was opening. The second time they gave us the opportunity to play just before the headlining. And because of some logistical reason, the guys, Malek, the guitar player and bass player, arrived like five minutes before the show and the audience loved the way that we made everything possible to make it happen. The show was great. And so they offered the headlining three years later. 

MHR: ProgPower USA regularly is kind of like the entrance stage for many bands to start touring the stage. How Myrathfits within a window to try to tour the US? 
KC: I mean, I think that first of all I'm not into politics, but with Donald Trump on board I think that things are starting to be really complicated and expensive with the visas.

So if we want to do it properly, we have to synchronize for example gigs at ProgPower with other gigs so you can dilute a bit the price of the flights around all the shows. So it's boring logistical stuff. It's calculating, do math about logistics, all kind of boring stuff.

But if we want to do it good, properly, we need to put this in the equation. 

MHR: What kind of bands do you listen that you could recommend to people.

KC: We listen to a lot of classical music, pop music also, because the structure of songs can be really interesting. We listen to bands like Deep Purple, Metallica, Megadeth, this kind of stuff. Gojira, which is an awesome French band. The greatest band in France. So I would recommend this kind of band, Phish, Marillion, Genesis, yes.

MHR: What is next for Myrath for the rest of the year? I mean, the summer festivals are coming up and then what is after September? 
KC: So to be honest without disclosing anything, of course, we have maybe two or three years full of work. But I can't disclose anything. 

MHR: Thank you so much. Definitely looking forward for the show later.

KC: Thank you for the time.

Text: Miguel Rozo

Photo: Martin Huf