Myth of Origin - Sane Asylum

27 jan 2023

Dutch band Myth of Origin was born in 2018, combining different genres of metal with visuals and an energetic live performance. Their debut EP ‘Rites of Passage’ got released in 2019 and since then the band has been working on releasing a full album. Their latest release, Sane Asylum, drops on the 27th and the band hopes to conquer the stages with their new tracks. Lets dive in!

Myth of Origin describe themselves as Symphonic Metal, but in all honesty, they sound more Gothic metal to me than anything else. It never gets really heavy, a lot of vocals are dubbed with whispers to add to the eerie etherall vibe, there are a lot of monotonous vocal harmonies, lots of low and dark guitar riffs, and nothing too up-tempo. Also the lyrics, for the most part, feel really personal and emotional. The band uses some dark inspiration to come up with their lyrics, like Kristalnach and the movie ‘The Hunt’. There are a lot of industrial influences as well; some of the songs feel very synth heavy.

Claudia’s vocals remind me of Guano Apes on some tracks, but where Guano Apes as able to make their songs burst with energy, Myth of Origin remains mellow and fails to ignite the spark for me. That might be very different live on stage though, they claim to have a very energetic live show that I would love to see. That being said, Lacuna Coil is probably an inspiration for this band as well even though there are no real male/female duets going on, the lead vocals are similar to the stuff Lacuna Coil would write.

It feels like this band needs to grow a bit more. I hear some good ideas, but it’s not quite there yet. It feels like they are on their way to finding their own unique sound, but since they’re not quite there yet, it ends up sounding a bit like a dime a dozen. Also, the recording could have been approached with a more critical eye. Listening to it, there are some hiccups here and there that probably could have been edited out or avoided by re-recording some parts.

Maybe not my cup of tea

I like different kinds of metal. I wouldn’t be a metalhead and music lover otherwise. But sometimes I come across releases that just don’t vibe with me. To be fair to the band, let me say that a review like this is just one opinion, and there are as many opinions as there are people.

The album starts with a very promising instrumental intro with Sane Asylum. The synth sounds and whispers get me excited, and that excitement continues with the first riffs of Black Horizon. After the promising main riff, the song turns into a mid-tempo gothic rock/metal track, which still sounds kinda dark because of the dissonant vocals over the guitars. After the first chorus, we get a bit more groovy guitar riffs again, but it never gets exciting. This feeling of ‘meh, this doesn’t really excite me’ lasts for the majority of the tracks. It might be that this just isn’t my cup of tea. However, it feels like they try to copy what other bands have done before, but the copy just isn’t as good as the original. The lyrics are too personal, to straight forward. It doesn’t help that the mix feels unbalanced in a some tracks as well. It justs adds to the ‘not really finished’ vibe.

Gravity of this Matter starts promising again with a nice riff. Sadly, the chorus is as uninspired as the chorus from Black Horzion. The break halfway through the song is nice, but it’s not enough.

Some metal vibes though

Claim the Firstborn is the most metal song of the album. The fact that there are guitar solos and chants in Latin added to the Sympho Metal vibe on this track. I wish they’d done that for longer though. The Void starts with an emotional intro with clean guitars. It turns into a power ballad, and I’m not sure that this should have been the final track on the album. It leaves me filled with melancholy, which might be what the band intended for this album, but personally, I would have liked to have ended with the energy they promised us in Claim the Firstborn.

Final Thoughts

I want to congratulate this band on putting out an album and sticking with it: it can not have been easy to write and record something over the last two years, with all the covid craziness happening. However, this really feels like a first album; the band has some maturing to do, both soundwise and in songwriting, to create something truly unique. It might also be that this style of metal just isn’t for me. I would love to see this band live though, to see if they can deliver on the promis making an energetic, lasting impression. This album didn’t deliver on that front for me.