Symphonic metal is an overstuffed genre with precious few top-tier acts. Success depends on compelling vocal performances, ear-worm choruses, apocalyptic orchestral arrangements, and diligent production to meld it all together. Not even a year old and recently signed to Scarlet Records (alongside last year’s power metal standouts Fellowship) Greece’s Mystfall has wasted no time in bringing forth their debut album Celestial Vision. Standing out amongst the style’s mediocre masses is a herculean task. Is this young Hellenic quintet up to the challenge?
The central elements of Mystfall’s sound contain all the hallmarks of female-fronted symphonic metal, in the vein of Nightwish and Epica. Marialena Trikoglou’s vocal performance dominates most of Celestial Vision, with the occasional obligatory harsh vocals provided by guitarist Panagiotis Leontaritis. Dida Racotoarison adds plaintive piano and the occasional synth to break up the orchestra and guitars, though so sparingly that I came away wanting more from the keyboards. I also was left wanting more from all of the live instruments. The orchestral arrangements often handle the bulk of the memorable melodic material (“Celestial Vision,” “Centuries”), relegating the band to a supporting role. This lopsided dynamic between the orchestra and the metal band weakens the compositions, and the orchestra’s melodies and figures are often much more effective than the choruses themselves (“Centuries,” “Endless”). In the world of symphonic metal the chorus is king queen; woe be to those who attempt to dethrone her.
Mystfall has all the ingredients for exciting symphonic metal, yet Celestial Vision opens with an overly cautious approach. Tracks tend to drop in on an orchestral theme, follow a variation on a verse-chorus-bridge pattern, and then abruptly end. Call-and-response solos between guitar and synth à la Symphony X (“Centuries,” “Freedom Path”) are a nice change of pace, but they disappear right as they pick up steam. Leontaritis’ growls pair well with Trikoglou’s airy highs but they are buried in the bottom end of the mix, in stark contrast to the very forward female vocals. Trikoglou turns in an emotive performance with impressive range, but her vibrato-heavy operatic soprano can feel overpowered by the bombastic orchestrals and chunky guitars (“Celestial Vision,” “Endless”). These songs often take two steps forward only to take one back, leaving the first half of the album feeling disjointed and undercooked.
At the midpoint of the album the gears slowly click into place, and Mystfall begins to make convincing songwriting choices. Trikoglou spends more time in the lower end of her range (“Silence,” “Moral Compass”) to great effect, reminiscent of Annette-era Nightwish and holding my attention much better than the first half of the record. The beauty-and-the-beast vocal interplay finally gets some time in the spotlight (“Moral Compass,” “The Balance of Time”), the choruses hit as hard as the orchestrals, and a certifiable RIFF towards the end of “Kings of Utopia” provides the first head-bangable moment. “Moral Compass” is the best version of Mystfall, where the band finally sticks their landing with a James Bond-esque opening theme and an infectious sing-along chorus. Had the first four tracks of Celestial Vision been cut from this cloth, Mystfall would have a much more balanced and effective debut on their hands.
A playthrough of Celestial Vision feels like listening to a band search for their identity in real-time, with an ending much stronger than the beginning. The titans of female-fronted symphonic metal set a high bar, and excellence is a requirement to stand out amongst the crowd. With more consistent songwriting and balancing of the band’s musical elements, I think Mystfall has a serious addition to the genre in their future. While I’d recommend their debut album for fans of the style on the lookout for new blood, I’ll keep on wading through the masses to find the next corset-core gem.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 256 kb/s mp3
Label: Scarlet Records | Bandcamp
Website: facebook.com/mystfallofficial
Releases Worldwide: July 21st, 2023
