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Pythia (band)

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Pythia
Pythia live at the London Borderline
Pythia live at the London Borderline
Background information
OriginLondon, United Kingdom
GenresSymphonic metal, gothic metal, power metal
Years active2007 (2007)-present
MembersSophie Dorman
Marc Dyos
Ross White
Mark Harrington
Oz Wright
Marcus Matusiak
Past membersAndy Nixon-Corfield
Tim Neale
Richard Holland
Emily Alice Ovenden
Websitewww.pythiamusic.com

Pythia is a British symphonic metal band founded in London by Mediæval Bæbes member Emily Ovenden.

The band formed in 2007 [1] and released their first album, Beneath the Veiled Embrace, in 2009 along with the single "Sarah (Bury Her)" from that album. In 2010 Pythia released a second single from the album, "Army Of The Damned".

In 2011, Pythia announced their second album called The Serpent's Curse and released the single "Betray My Heart". During October 2014, Pythia announced their third album would be released on 8 December 2014 and released one of the songs as a teaser for the new album.

In 2013, guitarist Tim Neale and keyboardist Richard Holland left the band to focus on their own projects.[2] They were replaced by Oz Wright (from Motherload, ex-Headon) and Marcus Matusiak respectively.

In 2015, it was announced via the group's official Facebook page that Emily Alice Ovenden had left the band to focus on her new group Khronicles, and the band would continue with a new lead singer.[3] Her replacement was named on the 6 October 2015 as Sophie Dorman.

Musical style

Pythia are known for incorporating various gothic elements into their lyrics such as passion, the supernatural, and life. Marc Dyos said in an interview that they're unrestricted in lyrical themes, however they won't sing about modern-day politics. In the first three albums, Emily was the band's lyricist until she left the band in June 2015.[4] Pythia however have denounced the use of the word "gothic" to describe their music.[5]

I don’t want to say the word Goth; we hate the word Goth. It's actually got to the point where we’ve got a Goth jar! If you say the 'G' word, then you put money in the Goth jar!

–Tim Neale on the use of the word "goth."[5]

The music style of Pythia has varied throughout their albums. Their debut album, Beneath the Veiled Embrace, went for a symphonic approach with neo-classical elements with a few faster songs such as Sarah (Bury Her). Their 2012 album, The Serpent's Curse, also followed a similar style - heavy symphonic elements with a few fast-paced songs. Pythia changed their approach however to a much heavier, more progressive style of play with their latest album, Shadows of a Broken Past. The lyrical theme of this album is also somewhat different from the previous two, focusing on battles and war rather than the more gothic elements they had previously incorporated into their music in their two preceding albums.

It features 10 tracks that see us really spreading our wings and writing some of the fastest, longest, most complex and progressive material we have ever done, yet also features some of our shortest, most melodic and catchy songs too.

–Pythia on their third album, Shadows of a Broken Past.[6]

Early years (2007–2010)

Emily Alice Ovenden served as the band's lead vocalist until her departure in June 2015.

Pythia was formed in London by vocalist Emily Alice Ovenden, drummer Marc Dyos, keyboardist Richard Holland, guitarists Ross White and Tim Neale, and bassist Andy Nixon-Corfield. They immediately started work on their debut album, Beneath the Veiled Embrace, which later released in 2009. The band went on their first tour shortly after with support from other metal artists including Arch Enemy, Tarja, and Fields of the Nephilim among others.[7] Pythia performed at Bloodstock Open Air festival in August 2009, headlining the Sophie Lancaster stage,[8] and performed on the acoustic stage earlier in the day. On 14 May 2010 Pythia were studio guests for the Bruce Dickinson rock show on BBC 6 Music, talking to Bruce and playing a few songs from Beneath the Veiled Embrace.[9]

The Serpent's Curse (2011–2013)

In 2011, the band began working on their second album titled The Serpent's Curse. During production, their bassist at the time, Andy Nixon-Corfield, left the band due to him wanting to pursue other musical interests. Mark Harrington (from To-Mera) joined the band as Andy's replacement.[10] Pythia announced a launch show at the London Borderline for The Serpent's Curse on 29 February,[11] followed by Cardiff and London dates on 24 and 25 March respectively supporting Serenity. Further dates for June and July 2012 were announced for London, Liverpool, Manchester and Norwich alongside Mortad.[12][13] The album was released on 27 February 2012.

In April 2013, Pythia were the main support for Sonata Arctica during their UK tour.[14]

Richard and Tim's departure (2013)

In June 2013, Richard Holland and Tim Neale both left the band to pursue other interests. They both released statements following their departure.[15] Marcus Matusiak replaced Richard Holland on keyboards and Oz Wright replaced Tim Neale on the lead guitar.

Shadows of a Broken Past and hiatus (2014—2015)

In January 2014, Pythia supported symphonic metal band Leaves' Eyes during their UK tour.[16]

The band began working on their third album in 2013, initially known as PYTHIA 3 on the band's Facebook page but was officially titled Shadows of a Broken Past. The band released a teaser soundtrack from the album called "The Key" on their YouTube channel as a promo video on 3 October 2014.[17] Pythia also announced they would provide a free cover EP as a digital download featuring four songs covered by the band to those who pre-ordered the new album. The album was released on 8 December 2014 receiving positive reviews in core metal magazine Metal Hammer.[18]

Shortly after the departure of Holland and Neale, Pythia reported there was some unrest within the band which caused the band to go silent. The dispute was later resolved following a statement released on their website and Facebook page.[6][19][20] They also released the tracklist for Shadows of a Broken Past at that time.

On the future of Pythia Ross White was interviewed by Zero Tolerance magazine [21] and at this time said that the band was undecided and that they were working on separate projects as well as taking parental leave for a few months.

On 1 January 2015 Emily Alice Ovenden announced that she was working on a new project with guitarist Steven Yates entitled Khronicles - a heavy rock band with folk influences.[22] In a message on the group's Facebook page, Ross White announced that drummer Mark Dyos would be working on a new project called Bealdera and Ross White would be involved in a project called Lunatic Hooker.

New lead singer - Sophie Dorman (2015 onwards)

Sophie Dorman - who was announced as the new vocalist for Pythia in 2015

On 1 June 2015, the band released a statement on their Facebook page revealing that Emily Alice Ovenden had left the group to focus on Khronicles full time, and that they would be continuing onwards with a new singer.[23] On 6 October 2015 Pythia announced via their facebook page [24] that the replacement singer would be Sophie Dorman from Kent. A return to the live scene was announced with a show at the Camden Underworld in November of that year playing alongside Ancient Bards which was followed by a headline show at the Boston music rooms. Pythia were added to the line-up for the 2016 Muses of Metal festival headlined by Draconian (band)

Band members

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

  • Beneath the Veiled Embrace (2009)
  • The Serpent's Curse (2012)
  • Shadows of a Broken Past (2014)

Singles

  • "Sarah (Bury Her)" (2009)
  • "Army Of The Damned" (2010)
  • "Betray My Heart" (2011)
  • "The Circle / Just A Lie" (2012)

References

  1. ^ "metalhammer.it » Gruppi » Pythia". Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  2. ^ "UK's PYTHIA line up changes and album update - :: Metal Divas ::". :: Metal Divas ::. Retrieved 23 November 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  3. ^ https://www.facebook.com/PythiaBand/posts/10153299910391335
  4. ^ MyWebResource. "Pythia interview, Power of Metal.dk, August 2013". Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Metal Discovery: Interview with Tim Neale (Pythia) - 3rd November 2009". Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Pythia - Band Update, New Album Details Unveiled". Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  7. ^ "Bloodstock". Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  8. ^ "Blogstock - S.O.P.H.I.E Stage, Day One, Part Two - Terrorizer". Terrorizer. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  9. ^ "BBC Radio 6 Music - Bruce Dickinson Friday Rock Show, 14/05/2010". BBC. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  10. ^ http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=71181
  11. ^ 2014 The Borderline / MAMA Group Limited. [http://mamacolive.com/theborderline/listings/past-events/6040/pythia-the-serpent%EF%BF%BDs-curse-album-launch-mariana-hollow/ "Pythia - The Serpent�s Curse album launch, Mariana Hollow - The Borderline - London's Essential Live Music Venue for Over 20 Years"]. The Borderline. Retrieved 23 November 2014. {{cite web}}: replacement character in |title= at position 21 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "Pythia and Mortad Co-Headline UK Shows". Terrorizer. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  13. ^ Steve Goldby. "Pythia/Mortad: Borderline, London, 30th June 2012". Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  14. ^ "PYTHIA JOIN SONATA ARCTICA ON TOUR - The Noise Cartel". Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  15. ^ "Pythia announce lineup changes". PlanetMosh. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  16. ^ "Leaves Eyes Performs Live At Rock City, Nottingham". Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  17. ^ "PYTHIA - 'Shadows of a Broken Past' Promo Video". YouTube. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  18. ^ " http://metalhammer.teamrock.com/reviews/2015-01-06/pythia-shadows-of-a-broken-past#". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. ^ "Pythia - Hello Pythians, Some of you may be aware that there has..." Retrieved "8 December 2014. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  20. ^ "The Metalist - Pythia Post Band Update, Announce New Album". Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  21. ^ "Interview with Ross White".
  22. ^ https://www.facebook.com/khroniclesband/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)|title =Khronicles facebook page
  23. ^ https://www.facebook.com/PythiaBand/posts/10153299910391335
  24. ^ https://www.facebook.com/khroniclesband/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)|title =Khronicles facebook page
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