Pythia – Beneath the Veiled Embrace (4/5)

01. Sweet Cantation 03:54 02. Sarah (Bury Her) 04:31 03. Tristan 04:10 04. Ride For Glory 04:42 05. My Pale Prince 04:46 06. Eternal Darkness 05:01 07. What You Wish For 04:15 08. Oedipus 05:28 09. Army of The Damned 04:25 10. No Compromise 05:13

Have you ever let someone hear a female-fronted metal band – particularly from the symphonic/power metal pile – only for them to instantly compare the act to Finnish stars Nightwish? If I had a penny for the amount of times that friends and relatives have instantly brushed off Within Temptation, Tristania and… errr, Bonnie Tyler, as copycats of Tuomas Holopainen’s outfit, I’d like, have a fair few pence. Doesn’t it infuriate you? Well, if it does, don’t let such arseholes hear London’s Pythia… because, annoyingly, it will be hard to disagree with them.

The band features Mediaeval Baebes enchantress Emily Ovenden on lead vocals, whose pipes are hauntingly like those of former touring partner (ex-Nightwish singer) Tarja Turunen. Despite this, they still have some originality and savvy about their chops. First track ‘Sweet Cantation’ tears through the speakers, its thrash-tastic riff intertwined with twinkling synth glitter. The guitar and drum work of Ross White and Marc Dyos brings a more extreme influence to the table, one not often heard in the cold, lovelorn wilderness of symphonic metal; their participation in death metal act Descent might explain this. Second track and the group’s definitive song ‘Sarah (Bury Her)’ is glorious, the soaring guitars and lamenting orchestral refrains providing a master class in gothic metal. ‘Tristan’ delivers more of the same blissful, epic riffs, the sort that make you want to jump on your unicorn, draw your sword and ride through the blizzards to Dracula’s castle to save the princess (only to find out she’s in another castle. Anyone?) while ‘My Pale Prince’ provides chilling harpsichord-and-strings chuggery in the (bleeding) vein of Cradle of Filth.

‘Oedipus’ opens with a quake of impending doom, as though the world is about to end. Documenting the story of King Oedipus (basically, he killed his dad then shagged his mum – for more information, go to university), it takes the listener on a spiralling trip through the heavens then crashing down to Hell via its uplifting-to-damning juxtaposition of melodies. The cries of ‘Pray for us, my son’ that conclude the track, however, could be more angst-ridden and implemented further into the soundscape; they sound slightly under-produced and hollow. Final tracks, ‘Army of the Damned’ and ‘No Compromise’, as well as featuring Brian Blessed (as if that isn’t enough) highlight several layers of Ovenden’s palpably beautiful voice over quieter verses. While pretty, the vocal melodies are not always entirely memorable, one’s attention being held only by the instrumental aspects – which, thankfully, are top-notch.

Are these the best, most original songs of this subgenre of heavy metal? Probably not. Are they the worst? Definitely not. Are they well-crafted, polished and powerful, often holding sublime moments? Yes, and this is a largely stunning debut album full of bittersweet twists and turns that spell only promising things about Pythia. And hey, we all like Nightwish.

Beneath the Veiled Embrace is available to buy at Play.com

Genre : Symphonic / Gothic Metal

Article by Andy McDonald