Metal Underground.com

A needed counterpoint to both the extremely brutal releases on end and the slew of overly soft mallcore on the other, Tragodia exists in a middle realm where melody is king but heaviness still reigns beside it as queen. “Mythmaker,” the band’s third album overall and coming only a year after previous full-length “Theomachy,” is a well-rounded release with big appeal to anyone who simply likes metal in general and isn’t devoted exclusively to the most aggressive sub-genres.

The ten tracks composing “Mythmaker” tend to straddle that line between power and prog metal, but with a bit of a Gothic twist, as the music is more dark and brooding than you’d usually get from the combination of power metal and progressive music. There are quite a few moments that will definitely bring Iced Earth to mind, but don’t be surprised if a dash of thrash is found as well, along with some soulful acoustic strumming. It’s a minor occurrence, but there are also some interesting ‘80s movie soundtrack-style sounds in the background of a few songs, most notably “Born Under Niobe.”

“The Oracle and the Muse” offers up an example of technical guitar work and the intertwining of guitars and keyboards that both prog and power love to utilize. The vocals also dip a bit lower and more guttural throughout the track, although they don’t actually cross into growling. “Wisdom in the Meadow of Sorrows” is the track that easily showcases the band’s wide vocal range, bringing out high pitched power falsettos, smooth clean singing, and lower shouts.

The entirety of “Mythmaker” has a strong focus on the melodic aspects, but not at the expense of the heaviness. Tragodia has definitely found a winning formula in how to temper the different metallic aspects into a cohesive whole that never goes too far off the rails in either direction.