The Serpent's Curse

Female fronted (occasionally symphonic and/or gothic) metal; can be a rather decisive genre among the truest of the true, and though I don't really count myself among the self-professed defenders of the faith, it’s easy to see what they mean. Easy listening melodious vocals, glide over an often keyboard laden, sickly sweet, treacle production, cutting the balls clean off, what is at its core predominantly traditional heavy metal. All disconcertingly package up with heavily Photoshoped artwork and commercially aware focus on the inevitably, oh so attractive front lady. An exercise which, at its worst leaves the listener with something, catchy, almost soothing; yet a rather soulless and ineffectual affair. Though it’s the majority of these criticisms could feasibly be attributed to theses Brits, they are immediately eviscerated in the face of one irrefutable absolute...

Pythia Kick fucking ass mate.

The reason for this apparent paradox is that Pythia is driven by a core metallic sensibility, a number of members apparently having a pedigree in death/thrash and black metal probably helps more than a little. The traditional power of the heavy metal riff, blistering solo is never compromised; the drums frequently go on the attack with tremendous potency and the bass rumbles along nicely, just as it should. The vocals have a quality that, while operatic, sync incredibly well with the whole band, never jarring, never homogenizing, and increase the power of the whole immensely. Keyboards and production, so frequently the main issues with this style, are just right. The keys have the prerequisite atmosphere, without falling foul of the glossy, glazing affect that blights many records of this ilk. Ditto the production, which sounds like an expensive enough job on what must have been on a smaller end budget, all instruments are clearly audible, and crucially, keep their teeth. The song structure is tight and punchy, while still affording the smooth nature of the genres lighter elements to bring some fantastic dynamics into play. The opener "Cry of our nation" is a perfect example of this, though every song presented here has moments of this frequently perfectly positioned balance. The lyrics are worth a nod too, written by the vocalist Emily Alice Overden they have distinctly feminine tone, fantasy, broken hearts and lost loves are predominant themes, but a frequent injection of anthem like quality which has thoroughly metal feel, again the balance is spot on. Hell "Dark sun" is worth a Bruce Dickinson comparison, really.

An awesome record then, but who should be looking to pick this up? Of course if you liked the first record, I can't think of a single reason not to own this now, as it’s a step up from that, already very worthy debut. I would even go as far to recommend none fans of the female fronted style, as I would count myself among you, check out The Serpents Curse, in particular power metal fans should find something to enjoy here. However, though I would urge you to give it a listen, it’s doubtful that a acolyte of Cirith Ungol style of uber trueness (on first press vinyl of course) or a devout teenage Kvltest would be convinced, as despite the quality's listed above, It still sits firmly in the niche for which it was made. Your loss mind.

So what does this praise all add up to? Well, what we have here, is the best commercially viable band the British metal scene has produced since prime era Paradise Lost. I'm not going to qualify that deliberately outrageous hyperbole as I honestly think Pythia Have a shot at been huge (hell, I could have said Maiden and not felt too self conscious!). Yes the British underground holds a good few band with something special on offer, A Forest Of Stars and Ghast spring to mind, and indeed both have true quality and originality, but the chances are, they will remain cherish only by a privileged few, it’s just the nature of the extreme metal beast. Pytha however, have the intrinsic possibility of wider acceptance, which this type of band naturally possesses. With a bit of consistency and an admittedly big chunk of luck, in five years or so I can see them returning to the place which I first saw them, Bloodstock, only this time instead of in a half empty tent, there on the main stage closing the dam thing.