The Awakening

I don’t normally go in for operatic or symphonic metal (aside from that one ‘Nightwish year’ when I had as a kid). Like a lot of power metal, despite the dedication to musicality and the vaulting ambition of many works produced under these styles, it is both samey yet completely overbearing. But Pallas Athena are adding a different twist to an old story on their debut EP, released in February of 2019. Or rather, they write interesting progressive metal that just happens to aesthetically present itself as symphonic metal. Think a more gentle Septic Flesh for a close approximation.

The production on ‘The Awakening’ is a little muddy for such theatrical music, but its colour still shines through regardless. The backbone of these tracks is a guitarist that knows their onions when it comes to esoteric tremolo picked riffcraft. This adds a level of sophistication to the sound that is lacking in more poppy iterations of the operatic form. Which brings us screaming round to vocalist Vickie Harly. Although clearly operatically trained, her voice sits halfway between the full opera technique and more contemporary clean singing. She is able to jump from each style effortlessly, offering up a charismatic display that both elevates the music and allows it to shine in its own right. Multiple backing vocal tracks also add layers of texture and harmonies to the riffs, serving as an additional instrument for the most part.

Besides some fairly nifty prog-metal chucked in for good measure, one reason why this music stands out from the usual crop of operatic metal is subtlety; or rather, patience. The reason operatic metal often does not work is nothing to do with the style itself, it is that those who play it are often over excited, and chuck everything they can at the listener without let-up or room to breathe. Pallas Athena on the other hand, take their time some more. They build into the more full-on sections after layering up the music step by step, varying the intensity and making full use of contrast and the benefits this has for creating drama. Even the pop number ‘Lilith’ eventually morphs into a prog-metal masterclass in tension and release.

‘The Awakening’ is a promising little EP that pulls on many traditions in metal and prog-rock to create a fresh take on a very marmite genre within metal. Even if operatic metal is not usually your bag this still comes highly recommended for the sheer talent and passion behind the song writing.

Originally published at Hate Meditations