PYTHIA
V Pt. 1: Unhallowed (EP)
Independent

One of the UK’s finest purveyors of symphonic metal are back after a six year break and are once again venturing into the realms of Fantasy on their new EP entitled “V Pt. 1: Unhallowed”.

PYTHIA were formed in London in 2007 and have always enjoyed mixing elements of progressive, gothic and power metal into their sound, but on this EP there’s also a hint of doom providing the darkened element which in turn helps make the light shine even brighter. It’s this mixing of styles that has helped them gain a very loyal fanbase and spots on tour with the likes of Arch Enemy, Ensiferum, Leaves’ Eyes to name but a few.

This fantastic new EP consists of five brilliant tracks filled to the brim with sizzling guitars, siren vocals, thunderous drums, brooding bass and killer keys, all expertly performed by a band on top of their game and pristinely mixed by the legend that is Jacob Hansen. The whole package is neatly completed by wonderful artwork courtesy of Remy Cooper whose album cover depicts the first step on the road in this adventure that awaits us.

We begin the adventure with the title track, “Unhallowed”, and it’s full of heroic melodies set to some good old fashioned steel clad power metal that rages at full tilt. The thrash riff that gets us going is fantastic but we soon go up a gear as the whole band joins in at 100 miles per hour. There’s really nothing like a guitar solo to get things going and that’s exactly what we get and wow, it works so well.

“Path Of Decay” is up next and we start off at a more mid-tempo pace with a guitar melody setting the tone before the rest of the instruments join in and carry on the same melody, and before Sophie sears her way into our hearts with her impassioned fire within, singing:

‘Storm is rising
Like a fire inside me’

Overall, the darker tone is what shines for me here, the breakdown, the solo and then return to the opening melody line all works, but it’s the key change where you find yourself banging your head and nodding approvingly at the wonderful musicianship.

Track three, “A Curse In The Blood” is a far more broody affair with the almost doom metal riffs really giving it a gritty edge with Sophie’s siren charms on full display as they soar above the clouds of heavy drums and bass and lead us straight into the relentless “Muses Of The Night”, which is a fine example of PYTHIA at the height of their creative powers and definitely my favourite track of the EP. It’s fast, it’s heavy and the soaring vocals just bring it all together so well.

Our journey ends (for now) with “Bright Flame” with its almost tribal drum intro, doomy riff and haunting vocal starting the track off. The song shines bright (no pun intended) at times but also recedes into the darkness, and it’s that interplay between light and dark, good and evil which makes the song the perfect track on which to end.

It’s so good to have PYTHIA back and based on this EP it’s going to be an exciting adventure indeed. I for one cannot wait to see where we go next.

Russell Mulock-Bentley