I can’t be quite sure if Chris Maragoth behind this EP titled Tales is the same Chris Maragoth who produced German black metal outfits Draug and Hal, but one thing can be certain, if you like gothic rock/metal Tales will be an enjoyable listening experience. Spiced with sample sounds of rain, thunder, cawing ravens, bell tower, old creaking house and whispers in the attic, Tales quickly moves into melodic rock territory with a gothic lean. Concept record or not, all song titles here start with Tales of …, but the main connective tissue is the EPs obvious pleasant melodies.

Tales of a Girl opens with a piano melody and is the only song on the EP vocalized with up front in the mix yet not overpowering female vocals (by Nadine Hope). Some guitar chug is being preferred later on, so Tales of a Girl takes on the Finnish gothic rock direction with the sound being rather balanced, clean, not too sugary, but not too heavy either. Tales of My Demise and Tales of Loss and Tragedy have minimum vocals in them, so you can call them quasi instrumentals. They take the challenge of not being boring or repetitive quite well. Tales of My Demise has acoustic and distorted guitars duel to start with, and then violin instrumentation and piano definitively demonstrate that the author had some classical music exposure. Syncopated riffs at the end make Tales of My Demise sounding more metallic, but just like Tales of Loss and Tragedy, which also has piano and violins, both compositions are a lot less about heavy sound and more about melancholy and dark atmosphere, just like the whole of the EP.