Voice of the Mysterons

Voice of the Mysterons were a Scottish Christian punk and experimental hard music band associated with the UK alternative Christian music scene of the 2000s. The group were formed after Daniel Petersen, also known as Otto NoBot or Otto Bot, moved to Scotland following his time as lead singer and lyricist with the American Christian horror punk band Blaster the Rocket Man.

The band released the album They Have Pulled Down Deep Heaven On Their Heads through Boot to Head Records in 2007. Their music mixed punk, noise rock, hardcore, science fiction imagery, apocalyptic themes and dense Christian-influenced lyrics.

History

Voice of the Mysterons were formed in Scotland after Daniel Petersen, formerly of Blaster the Rocket Man, moved to the country and met Dougle, who wanted to form a credible Christian punk band. Cross Rhythms described the group as an unusual and lyrically dense punk act, noting Petersen’s previous role in Blaster the Rocket Man and the band’s Scottish setting.

Petersen had previously been known as the vocalist and lyricist of Blaster the Rocket Man, an American Christian horror punk band from Indianapolis, Indiana. Blaster the Rocket Man combined punk rock, surf punk, horror themes, science fiction and Christian allegory. Voice of the Mysterons continued some of Petersen’s interest in strange concepts and religious imagery, but pushed the sound into a more abrasive and experimental direction.

The band were connected with the UK Christian alternative and festival scene of the late 2000s. Their live performance at Greenbelt was reviewed by Cross Rhythms in 2008, which described the group as unusual, intense and difficult to categorise.

They Have Pulled Down Deep Heaven On Their Heads

Voice of the Mysterons released They Have Pulled Down Deep Heaven On Their Heads through Boot to Head Records in June 2007. The album title is sometimes given in longer form as They Have Pulled Down Deep Heaven On Their Heads – Or – Come Hell Or High Voltage: An Electromagnetic Rapture-Rock Shock-Apocalypse In Dramatic Dialogue….

Cross Rhythms reviewed the album in March 2008, giving it a 7 out of 10 rating and listing its style as hard music. The review connected the album’s imagery with C. S. Lewis’s science fiction novels Out of the Silent Planet and That Hideous Strength, rather than the more familiar Chronicles of Narnia.

Known tracks from the album include:

• “Sarx Machines Are Dying to Become”
• “Electrocutesy vs. the Shocking Alternative”
• “Hyperboreans in Hyperspace”
• “You Don’t Understand My 25-Year Transmogrification Plan”
• “We Are the Death of God Movement”
• “Herbert Has A Horn: A Syllogism”
• “The Behemoth cum Leviathan cum Cherubim cum Seraphim Monsters of Heaven and Earth Meta-flesh Manifesto”
• “The Ants of God Are Queer Fish”
• “The Manifesto Continued And Concluded”
• “Daylight Monsters: A Faerie Shocker”
• “Something Breathes Beside You In The Darkness”
• “Metamorphosis Suite In Three Movements – I. Hymn of the Mer-Witch”
• “Metamorphosis Suite In Three Movements – II. Watershed”
• “Metamorphosis Suite In Three Movements – III. Great Gash in the Sky, Deep Heaven Descends”
• “Intro to Horns”
• “The Horns of the Lamb Do Grow Even in These Badlands”

Different online listings vary in track count and title formatting, so the original Boot to Head release should be treated as the main reference point.

Musical style

Voice of the Mysterons played a mix of Christian punk, experimental punk, noise rock, hardcore and hard music. Boot to Head Records tags the album with styles including art rock, hardcore, noise rock, prog, punk and rock and roll. Cross Rhythms described the band as hard music and noted that their work had been described as “post apocalyptic sci-fi punk”.

The band’s music was marked by short songs, long titles, dense lyrics, irregular structures and surreal religious imagery. Their sound was less straightforward than much of the pop punk and skate punk material associated with Christian punk in the same period.

Members

Confirmed member information is limited from available sources.

• Daniel Petersen, also known as Otto NoBot or Otto Bot – vocals, lyrics
• Dougle McMysteron – bass

Legacy

Voice of the Mysterons remain an obscure but distinctive part of the UK Christian punk and alternative music scene. Their importance comes partly from their connection to Blaster the Rocket Man, but also from the way they pushed Christian punk into stranger and more experimental territory.

The band’s work sits at the more unusual edge of Christian alternative music, combining punk aggression, science fiction language, theological imagery and a deliberately awkward underground sound.