ANCIENT MYTH - ArcheoNyx

Formed in 2002 by members who’re all long gone, ANCIENT MYTH know a thing or two about self-reinvention. Current frontwoman Michal joined in 2008, whereupon the group became part of a wave of symphonic metal acts (spearheaded by LIV MOON and Versailles) who flourished in the late 2000s and early 2010s. However, having put out two albums in three years by 2012, ANCIENT MYTH’s next release wasn’t until 2016.

Aberration consisted of one-third original songs and two-thirds self-covers and was released simultaneously in English (Ag) and Japanese (Au). At the time, it felt like the perfect introduction to ANCIENT MYTH’s work. Since July 2021, however, when the band dropped ArcheoNyx - their first new full-length album in nine years - Aberration now comes across as the musical equivalent of the ‘before’ image in a TV makeover show.

The reasons for this are twofold. The first makes himself known less than 90 seconds into the album. Following guitarist Izo’s departure in 2016 and some difficulties with his immediate successor, ANCIENT MYTH picked up THE GENIUS ORCHESTRATION’s Kohei Iyoda. Whether the band has had a guitarist so technically gifted before is open to debate, but none have ever flaunted it like Kohei does on Chaos to Infinity, or in his minute-long solo battle with visual metal doyenne HIZAKI on the climatic Zenith.

The second reason is Michal’s dramatic vocal metamorphosis, although unlike Kohei, it doesn’t appear she was in any hurry to show off. Indeed, the lady sticks to her familiar vocal range for Chaos to Infinity and the ensuing River of Oblivion. The latter song was composed by drummer Shibuki and features one of keyboardist HAL’s masterclasses in how to conjure a fairly convincing virtual orchestra out of thin air.

Michal first teases her newfound range on the aptly-titled Song of Siren, singing the rather plodding ballad almost entirely in falsetto. The livelier Crimson Stigmata sees her get more adventurous, jumping entire octaves (sometimes mid-verse). Then, as if the previous two tracks were a warm-up, she goes full soprano for a metallised version of Mozart’s aria Der Holle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen. The lady herself has said she lost count of how many times she rehearsed the piece, but it sounds like it was worth it.

There’s a notable paucity of songs on ArcheoNyx in which its standout elements - Michal’s operatics and Kohei’s shredding – truly converge. Given that many (if not all) the album’s songs may’ve already been written by the time Kohei joined, it’s quite possible they simply squeezed him in where they could. Here’s hoping there’s more in the vein of Meteor Hunter and the epic eight-minute finale Zenith (with or without HIZAKI) in this reinvigorated ANCIENT MYTH’s future.