Review by Shannon Shumaker
Pryti’s new album, Tales of a Melancholic, is eerie, melodic, but most of all, memorable. Tales of a Melancholic has a huge sound, which is only backed up by Pryti’s phenomenal, haunting vocal work. Her voice fits the tone of this album flawlessly – it’s eerie, but surprisingly easy to listen to.
The third track on the album, “Abyss” was the song that sold me on Pryti, and it is definitely a high point on the record. While I listened to this song before listening to the entire record as a whole, it sounds even more amazing with the slow, haunting tracks, “Insomnia” and “The Pessimist” leading up to it. The first two songs absolutely set the mood for the album, but “Abyss” is definitely the first high point. The vocal work on this track is strong and commanding, the chorus is huge, and by the time it fades into “Purge,” I’m left breathless.
Big choruses, soaring high notes and beautiful vocal melodies layered over haunting guitar work are high points throughout the entirety of Tales of a Melancholic. The album as a whole is a really interesting listen, because despite the relatively mellow tone of many of the songs, none of them fade into the background or become boring by any means. The tone of the album is very similar to Deftones, only with a female vocalist, and if that isn’t enough to sell you on this record, then maybe Pryti’s incredible vocal work should just speak for itself – with every vocal run, I’m blown away again and again.
“Abyss” obviously isn’t the only strong track on this album, though. Another incredible song is “Bitter Pill.” Again, the song is very mellow and dark, but the vocals absolutely shine. “Bitter Pill” is also a great showcase of Pryti’s amazing vocal range – she goes from very low, deep vocals at the beginning of the track to soaring high notes in the chorus and it’s amazing. The emotion in the following track, “Amnesia,” is palpable. It’s hard not to feel moved by this haunting song, especially in the more quiet, soft vocal work.
The only downside on Tales of a Melancholic is that it stays on pretty much the same mellow, eerie level for the majority of the album. While the saving graces are the huge choruses and beautiful vocal work, it can sometimes be hard to differentiate one song from another. The positive side of that, however, is that it makes the album flow really well. Obviously, not every song sounds similar, either – there are definitely stand out tracks such as “Battle Wounds,” which has a distinctly brighter sound than much of the record.
Pryti absolutely nails her debut full-length album. Besides a few minor little flaws, Tales of a Melancholic shines. The incredible vocal work and the eerie, haunting quality of the music make Tales of a Melancholic not only unique, but memorable. For her first full-length release, Pryti has created something truly special with this album, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Rating: 4/5
Listen to “Bitter Pill”