Interview with Sidney Allen Johnson of Babylon Mystery Orchestra

This hard rock/heavy metal artist Sidney Allen Johnson addresses many issues in society while delivering his music which is a blending of Black Sabbath with Sisters of Mercy and AC/DC. So far he has had an opportunity to release three Cd’s. The first two Cd’s are “Divine Rights of Kings”, and “On Earth As It Is In Heaven.” The latest Cd is called the “Axis of Evil.” This journalist had an opportunity to learn more about the forming of Babylon Mystery Orchestra and the latest release.

How did you select the band name?

It wasn’t so much a “selection” as it was an evolving process. As I was recording what would become the first CD, Divine Right Of Kings,” I 1really had no name for the project. I was writing songs centered around the story of “Mystery Babylon” from the Biblical book of Revelation, so that was on my mind. I had in the late 90’s become enamored with the music of Therion, who uses a lot of orchestration and operatic elements in their sound and I felt I would like to use some of that as well. So I was toying with naming the project something along the lines of ORKESTRA. Clever mis-spelling? As I thought of it more I suggested to myself “Mystery Babylon Orchestra,” which didn’t really sound all that interesting but when I rearranged it to say Babylon Mystery Orchestra it sounded perfect. I knew I had something with that. I was certain it had the virtue of not ever having been thought of before. Plus I like the preposterousness of having the word “Orchestra” in the name considering I am the only one playing on the records.

Can you describe your sound?

As I indicated in the previous question I had wanted to use some orchestration within the doom/Gothic kind of sound I envisioned for this. Over the records their has been a tendency to use less of it as they have gotten heavier, but that makes the places where I do use it that much more important. I really think the Babylon Mystery Orchestra sound came to fruition on the third CD, “The Great Apostasy.” Overall I would call it a Cinematic, Gothic metal band. I tend to use the word Cinematic at times because of the way the vocals are delivered. They are meant to add character and atmosphere to the song as well as convey the lyrics.