There is always so much to explore in music, as you explore every sub-genre of a sub-genre. Modern Symphonic Metal is a good case in point and, what was once just purely the domain of some of the fantastic Northern European acts who kicked off the mainstream excitement, has gone beyond an icily epic mix of power metal and suitably heroic classical music. Two UK bands have forged their own way in an ever-evolving landscape, both releasing very different, but equally striking albums.
London based quintet Serpentyne formed in 2010 and initially started off as a folk band before mixing in heavier elements by their second album and ‘Angels of the Night’, their fourth, is their heaviest and most accomplished yet. Fronted by the classically trained Maggiebeth Sand, their sound is very much a mix of the usual elements of Symphonic Rock but shot through with folk and medieval flavour.
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It’s an intriguing blend and you can be instantly transported back to the times of King Arthur or Robin Hood, such is the musical tapestry it conjures, imbued with the smell of chainmail armour, the sound battle and the mysticism of the forest.
Sand has a wonderfully unaffected and natural voice, much more folk orientated than her operatic soprano would lead you to believe. It’s a very characterful instrument and, matched with the bagpipe playing of bandmate Vaughan Grandin it gives Serpentyne a certain edge that makes fascinating listening.
Away in the World’ shows their ancient and modern mix perfectly and ‘Angel of the Night’ is introduced with the humming drone of voices before pipes skirl and brass assaults the senses in a mystical world punctuated by the thunder and punch of the guitar. Themes from history, literature and mythology feature throughout and the choral and orchestral ‘Lady Serpentyne’ is a fascinating exploration of the Medusa legend, ‘Boudicca’ takes a look at the Iceni Queen and ‘Lady Macbeth’ uses both spoken and sung phrases from the Bard of Avon’s infamously dark and treacherous play.
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There is some truly excellent playing here and some of the guitar solos by Lee Wilmer are exceptionally fine and fiery, especially on ‘Follow Me’ and ‘Bring on the Storm’. Joining Sand on lead vocals for two tracks is bass player Nigel Middleton and thankfully he too goes for the more natural approach as opposed to the usual smooth/rough style adopted by a band with shared female and male singers.
There continues to be a nice juxtaposition of music stylistically beyond the obvious as ‘Aphrodite’ opens with a really futuristic scattergun and rapid fire keys and, at the other end of the scale, ‘The Call of the Banshee’ is a multi-tracked world music piece that sounds like Gregorian Chant spliced to African tribal rhythms. If you want to try something new and different you can’t go wrong with ‘Angels of the Night’.
Review by Paul Monkhouse for MPM
