PANDORA’S KEY
“Yet I Remain”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Pandora’s Key are a melodic metal band from the Netherlands formed in 2016, releasing debut E.P. ‘Prometheus Promise’ in 2017, and their debut album ‘Yet I Remain’ in 2024.

Featuring a myriad of metal styles from symphonic to melodic to the more recent amalgam that’s known simply as modern metal, Pandora’s Key sit in the same territory as bands such as Epica, Kamelot, and Nightwish – the Dutch outfit emanating a beauty and the beast aura! An aura that stems from the bands two singers – the elegant symphonic vocals of Vera Veldhuizen, and the harsh melodic death metal howl of Rik Van Schaaik. The contrast between the two vocalists is staggering, the album a feisty romp of emotional highs and lows across ten songs and forty five minutes – ‘1779’ an effects laden and eerie three minutes plus instrumental! The chills rising from ‘1779’ are immense, goosebumps forming everywhere…

…as the album storms into life (proper) with the thunderous ‘De Bockereyder’, the sound of galloping heavy metal greeting listeners. And then with a strong progressive feel, ‘De Bockereyder’ slows down, symphonic vocals filling the air – Pandora’s Key continuing to change gear and tempo! A hustling, bustling opening salvo, ‘Ariadne’ maintains the (albums) heavy start, pummelling everyone with a bombastic barrage of hard hitting heavy metal, harsh vocals taking over lead position. However, Veldhuizen returns with her soaring symphonic swagger, ‘Ariadne’ an identity changing romp of melodic symphonic modern metal! ‘Bout sums up the bands sound in the proverbial nutshell – although that said, the frenetic start to ‘Freedom’s Call’ belies the bands melodic metal tag, ‘Freedom’s Call’ a thundering, in your face canter of mild aggression with the most melodious chorus break you could ever wish for! The array of musical styles on show is phenomenally wide, the band breaking boundaries to travel through a number of metal genres.

It’s getting to that point where each song crosses – at minimum – at least three metal genres, Pandora’s Key not content to be pigeon holed into just the one style of metal, the album powering on with the symphonic power metal fuelled ‘Falls The Shadow’. Emanating a thrashier feel than every other song heard so far, ‘Falls The Shadow’ deserves some serious head banging. So come on all you thrashers and head banging maniacs, here’s your time to shine! And featuring the most mellow backdrop heard so far, ‘The Keening’ glides in on the back of an exquisite keyboard passage, building a crescendo of anticipation to where the tension becomes unbearable, the band finally letting all hell break loose around the two minute mark, ‘The Keening’ going on to adopt an elegant stroll! A stroll right through the heart of the symphonic metal genre, with the vocals of Veldhuizen soaring higher than ever! And when I mentioned earlier the number of different metal genres each song exhibits, little did I know (at that time) Pandora’s Key would go on to double that figure! ‘Yet I Remain’ is an album that’s gonna attract a vast number of fans from all over the metal spectrum, the band maintaining their genre hopping journey with the death metal driven ‘Kindling Ire’, displaying the harshest of vocals! The rough, tough and gruff nature of ‘Kindling Ire’ is jaw dropping, mainly because it was so unexpected – the songs identity standing (almost) at the opposite end of the metal scale from symphonic metal!

The twists and turns on display from the Dutch band are so dramatic, each and every one bringing forth a different ambience – ‘The Flying Dutchman’ bringing the slightest touch of hard rock to the fore! Only slight though, for Pandora’s Key are steadfastly a metal band, yet the longer ‘The Flying Dutchman’ runs, is that a hint of folk metal I hear? Methinks so, the band three quarters the way through the album and still mixing up the metal styles – ‘Icarus’ planting its foot firmly on the monitor of old school heavy metal! The iconic gallop of legendary bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Samson, takes front and centre, Pandora’s Key delivering a highly head bang-able hurrah that every single metal traditionalist around the world is gonna love! And for the albums final song ‘Per Ardua’, the band remain in traditional metal territory – for the first forty seconds at least! And then progressive leanings come to the fore once more, along with symphonic elements and modern metal touches to keep every listener guessing as to which direction ‘Per Ardua’ will turn in next!

Overall, ‘Yet I Remain’ is a genre hopping album of immense variety, the band fusing together many different styles of metal across all ten songs on offer.

TRACKLIST

1779
De Bockereyder
Ariadne
Freedom’s Call
Falls The Shadow
The Keening
Kindling Ire
The Flying Dutchman
Icarus
Per Ardua

https://www.pandoras-key.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pandoraskeymetal

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