I am going to be straight with you. I was ready to ditch Oryad‘s Sacred & Profane and send it down into the dreaded oubliette. The place at the RMR office tower without any chance for escape for delinquent records. Yet another Symphonic Metal piece with a classically trained female vocalist. Many of those already crossed our hawse to the point of symphonic overload. Been there, done that, got the wacky band shirt. Ain’t it, Nightwish?
And yet. Oryad‘s debut offering here seems to harbor more succulent details than meets the ear at first. Because you see, Sacred & Profane vacillates almost drunkenly between some true excellence and halfway botched parts that constantly made us move stealthily sideways toward the dreaded oubliettes. Yes, this thing again.
The RMR crew covered its fair share of Symphonic Metal outfits that didn’t quite understand they weren’t an opera in disguise. Authentic, classically trained singers indeed bring volume and spiffy geekery to those metal constructions. Epica already proved this beautifully almost exactly 20 years ago. And that is why many a symphonic metal band has one.1
But, get too much of it, and the ever-present classical tropes will start to weigh heavily on the ears of whoever’s listening. And that’s the case with Sacred & Profane. Moira Murphy produces some hauntingly beautiful passages over the length of the record, no doubt. But more often than not, she somewhat overstretches her vocal performance and warbles her way through those tight spots with some hit-or-miss accuracy (Scorched Earth, for instance).
But that’s not always the case. Oryad‘s debut truly shines when the band is on safely consecrated ground. Blood and its darkly gothic and deliciously somber cinematic style is one great track. Murphy‘s performance is spot on with a true Epica-esque performance that comes with a duet straight from early Within Temptation. Already the cheeky classical piano lesson at the beginning will whet yer appetite. And this is the one instrument the band uses to perfection at set locations throughout Sacred & Profane.
Alchemy is the second track that truly suits the band’s genes. The wailing stops once this one takes off and some really powerful spice gets thrown in for good measure. Variété-style, jazzy, powerfully executed vocals, with a whiff of the 1920s, backed up by some steamy rock. You’ll also get one of the better solos on that track, too. That’s the spirit, folks. And we should have had more of that kind of juice.
Lilith or – again – Wayfaring Stranger sound like something Nightwish from the Tarja era might have concocted. Eve with its Sirenia-like whispers and pretty similar guitar style did not escape our attention either. One of the better tracks on Sacred & Profane. The rest is a smorgasbord of great moments of excellence and weak parts that didn’t really catch our attention. And that’s truly unfortunate.
But – where does this leave us? Compared to Oryad‘s wretched EP Hymns of Exile & Decay,2 Sacred & Profane is progress propelled with rocket fuel. Yet, Oryad sent us a mixed bag of goodies. Trying to be a style-busting outfit, and – by that same token – creating its own unique one, is always a good direction to take. And here the band sent us an album brimming with a ton of ideas. But – somehow – Oryad forgot to put a tent around this particular circus. The whole chebang lacks coherence with too many elements jockeying for attention. A to and fro of great content and lesser wares that somehow escaped the dreaded guillotine. And that keeps the record from the greatness it actually deserves.
On the other hand, the band put a ton of painstaking effort into the making of this decidedly remarkable piece. That – in turn – makes us sad that we weren’t able to like the record as much as we probably should have. Oryad got promise, though. And Sacred & Profane could very well be a stepping stone to future greatness in metal or elsewhere. The RMR crew will be waiting for more.
Record Rating: 5/10 | Label: Self-Released | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 25 May 2023