It’s hard – incredibly hard – to find any wiggle room in the World of symphonic/operatic metal. The scene now is so saturated – and not only saturated, but saturated with high-quality acts to boot – that there seems nowhere to go for any new bands trying to add their voice to the choir if they have no point of difference beyond their own individual take on the genre.

So what are we to make, then, of the ‘sleek celestial symphonic metal’ of Greek newcomers Mystfall? Can a band that sounds like a mix of the less memorable bits of Xandria and Epica make a go of things in the current overheated climate?

On the face of it, they shouldn’t be able to, but there is something lurking in the shadows of this band that suggests…