Pythia

Not for many a long year has a band awakened in the British Isles embodying the strong-willed determination, raw energy and relentless dedication that lie at the heart of all great heavy metal groups. Formed in 2007 by vocalist Emily Alice Ovenden and drummer Marc Dyos, Pythia began to forge a path through the masses of faceless bands that littered the music scene, united in their love of gothic and fantasy literature, the darker end of the classical spectrum and a burning desire to tell the world their tale through ear-splitting, gut-crunching heavy metal.

The band’s birth was seemingly inevitable when considering the band members’ individual backgrounds and musical pedigree. Emily grew up in a mock gothic castle, deep in the county of Cornwall and as the daughter of infamous ruralist artists, Graham and Annie Ovenden, creativity and artistry around her from her very beginnings. She began singing and writing both literature and lyrics at a very early age, the themes and imagery that surrounded her becoming an immediate and enduring inspiration. By the time Pythia came to be, Emily had already become a published author and made a name for herself in the classical music world as a member of number-one selling act Mediaeval Baebes.

The band made an immediate impact on the live circuit, bringing their powerful and dramatic performance to the UK stage at prestigious venues like the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, Kentish Town Forum and The Electric Ballroom, in support of world-class acts such as Tarja Turunen, Fields of the Nephelim, Ministry and Threshold. Proving an instant hit with crowds and gaining new fans at every show, they quickly caught the eye of promoters in the UK and Europe leading to popular festival performances, not least of which was headlining the Sophie Lancaster stage at one of the UK’s largest metal festivals, Bloodstock Open Air in 2009.

Highlights