Mythbegotten – Tales From The Unseelie Court (2024) – Review

Ah, what splendid news just crossed our hawse here? The Unseelie Court, the haven of the evil fey, seems to be in session again. The RMR crew is full of suckers for mystical realms and unsolved myths, so pretty much any record offering such riches may will get a shot over at the office.

Besides RMR didn’t sport a folk record this year, even if Mythbegotten‘s debut album is many more things than just pvre medieval musings high on nyckelharpa and weird pipes. But the fact that their brand-new record features a version of Twa Corbies really got them over the finishing line and onto the review pipe. Because the rest of their rough-hewn fare wouldn’t have gotten them there. But more to that later.

Tales From The Unseelie Court indeed brings you folklore galore including gruesome accounts of cannibal debauchery in The Terror of Lothian. Or meet unspeakable horrors on Beneath Exham Priory straight from Lovecraft’s sick fever dreams. You’ll find Merlin in action on Omen of Embers or – again – excerpts from Tolkien’s fantasies and other tales. In short, Mythbegotten found a lot of material thrown somewhat helter-skelter at ye.

Tales From The Unseelie Court features what I call Tavern Metal. Visions of wart-covered country folk of long-gone times being served ale by the gallon by pretty wenches in a smoke-filled watering hole nestled in a craggy, medieval landscape whilst the band roars away lustily in the background (The Heedless Horseman, for instance). Mythbegotten offers a rich smörgåsbord of ideas on a well-endowed albeit short tracklist. And this comes with a large array of styles, flavors, and moods, ranging from real folk, over epically-challenged Folk Metal, to a lighter version of Blind Guardian-ish Power Metal. If only these guys would stay clear of the murkier waters that Alestorm and their ilk lurk in. That would help some. Just sayin’.

The RMR crew much enjoyed Dan Barbour‘s rough yet elastic vocals, sometimes folksy and smoke-laden, and sometimes in full metal mode with some pretty decent growls. Lusty and often reckless riffing and – at times – twin solos together with some archaic instruments bring about a flamboyant delivery rushing forth without taking heed of its surroundings. To the point that the production starts to induce sensory overload after a while.

And that’s where the skeletons lie buried. The inherent complexity of Unseelie Court ain’t a very dear friend of this band. The record often sounds as if any notion, flash, or inkling somehow found a place somewhere. And that overloaded most of the tracks at some point of their often considerable airtime. It takes serious songwriting chops, an ability to self-edit, and thoughtful attention to merge those often stylishly different bits and pieces into some coherent and hopefully groove-laden amalgamation. As it stands today, things sound a tad disjointed and rough.

This gave songs like Beneath Exham Priory a chaotic, frantic, and crazed air with too many elements competing for attention at any one time. And while this can be explained away with Lovecraft’s moodiness and lunatic mindset, it’s also symptomatic of the final product. The issues usually reside with the beginnings of the songs which always left me slightly puzzled on direction and purpose. And that’s a pity, as one quickly develops a habit of skipping over potentially very good songs such as Mallt-y-Nos or – yet again – The Heedless Horseman. You see, songs need to tell more or less coherent stories. A tumultuous structure used by default won’t really help.

And I’d wish, Mythbegotten would have sent us more real medieval-ish folk. The disjointed presentation of Twa Corbies (two crows, Scottish narration) works particularly well and sounds great in all its barebone splendor.¹ ‘Tis a very old and gruesome ditty. But it also sports a more chivalric version with three ravens. The latter is mostly used in Germany with Faun, die Streuner, or dArtagnan offering the better versions. Boy, even the rebellious Bretons have their very own account called An Alarc’h. But that one’s mainly used to curse the French and praise the ‘Vretoned’,² no crows there. And I wonder why.³

Tales From The Unseelie Court is a remarkable debut but it still has ways to go on its tortuous path to greatness. The talent, energy, and musical prowess are all there, true. But there are just too many loose ends around the tracklist to kick this up a notch or two. In addition, the marketing department might need some spiffing, too. But then, this is often a matter of opinion and – indeed – ideology. In other words, disciplined self-editing, a theme, and strict control over what makes it into the production would have worked wonders. At this stage, this crew of misfits sees the potential but the delivery ain’t quite there yet. And by this token, this record won’t age too well on our internal playlist.

Unfortunately.

Record Rating: 6/10 | Label: Self-Released | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 31 October 2024