The Medea Project

The Medea Project

The Medea Project is a United Kingdom group associated with atmospheric metal, doom metal and gothic metal. It forms in March 2003, when Brett, handling bass and vocals, and Dean, on guitars, begin writing and jamming together after earlier attempts to work with mutual friends. The name comes from their shared interest in mythology and in darker aspects of the human condition.

Early line-up and first years

After the first songs take shape, Matt on drums and Greg on guitars join to complete the original line-up. The band plays its first show in July of the same year, then tours, records a demo and develops a small cult following. Greg and Matt later leave because of musical differences, leaving Brett and Dean as the core of the project.

A search for replacements lasts around 18 months without success, although Brett and Dean continue writing. Dean later moves to Ireland, but the pair remain in contact and the band releases a single for a charity album. When Dean returns, the group goes through further line-up changes and releases another single for a charity album.

Hiatus and reformation

After a period in which activity slows, the band does not perform live again for another three years and then goes on hiatus. Brett later moves to England in 2011. The project is then revived by Brett Minnie, who is now playing guitar and singing, alongside Pauline Silver on drums. They rework older material and write new songs, before Bradley, also known as Bob, joins on bass to complete the current three-piece line-up.

Style and recordings

The Medea Project’s sound is described as dark and progressive in its earlier form, and later as dark but more stripped back, with elements of stoner metal, doom metal, death metal, black metal and gothic rock. The group’s releases include The Medea Project in 2017, Sisyphus in 2020, Southern Echoes in 2021 and Reflections in 2023.

Compilation appearances

The band appears on several Zero Tolerance Magazine compilation CDs, contributing “Babylon” to Zero Tolerance Audio 93 in 2019, “To Know Us is to Fear Us” to Zero Tolerance Audio 95 in 2020, and “Fear” to Zero Tolerance Audio 105 in 2022.