Primrose Path

Primrose Path popped up in my Spotify discover list (I was listening to a lot of female fronted and gothic metal bands at the time) and after a quick check of the archives to verify “metalness” and a perusal of the track list that revealed a Kylie Minogue cover, I figured I’d give it a shot. I can honestly say I’m happy that I did.

This is a somewhat "by the numbers" release in terms of what you’d expect from a gothic metal/rock band; track lengths between three and four minutes with standard verse chorus structures. That said, the band still does a good job treading where many other bands have already gone and do shake up the formula over the course of the release. The songs are consistently good (even including the two bonus tracks) and outside of a few clunky grammar moments (most likely attributed to English being a second language for the Finnish group) lyrics are generally well written and interesting.

Primrose Path was produced by Pelle Saether and is at roughly the same level as what I’ve encountered with any of the other releases (Draconian’s Arcane Rain Fell and Steel Attack’s first three) he handled the same or a similar role. Keys (Teemu Oksanen) are strong in the mix when alone or the primary instrument and then pretty much covered up by the guitars when they come in. Guitars (Pasi Kolari and Martti Pohjosaho) come through strong and clear with solos and other lead work to be found on a lot of the songs, most notably “Countdown to the Stars,” “Broken Mirror,” “Psycho Lover,” and “Summer Hill”. Drums (Kuha Sillanmaki) are in the background keeping things moving but otherwise offer little of note. Bass (Teemu Turkia) has a similar role but is pretty buried in the mix.

The female and primary vocalist (Annika Jalkanen) has a voice that fits the music well and generally avoids the operatic approach often found in gothic metal. Sara Jezebal Deva’s work in Angtoria might be a good comparison, especially because both groups have similar covers of “Confide in Me” (I rate the Angtoria version as being a touch better, but both versions have their pros and cons). Charlotte Wessels from Delain is also a reasonable comparison, especially when you factor in the presence of guest clean male vocals. Tuomas Tuominen (ex-Fall of the Leafe and The Man-Eating Tree) provides the said vocals on five of the tracks; a backing role on “Bring Me the Sun” and lead or co-lead parts on “Broken Mirror,” “Colour My World,” “Don’t Touch the Sky,” and “Five Days in a Row,” with the last being the first of two bonus tracks.

Because of the consistency between songs I have no skip tracks and pretty much any one would provide a good measure of the overall release. If I had to pick favorites, it’d be “Summer Hill” because the guitars really shine and it strays a little more from the formula of the other songs or “Confide in Me” because it’s a strong take on a well-known song. “Five Days in a Row” is a bit of outlier in that it includes acoustic guitars and gives Tuomas a larger role than any other track.

If you're looking for a lesser known female fronted gothic metal/rock release with quality lead work and some clean male vocals, I recommend checking out this release. I consider it solidly on the metal side of the metal/rock split, especially because of the guitar tone and use, but could see if someone were to lean the other way.