Valkyrian Music

Band: Nya
Album: Nya (Self-Titled)
Genre: Alt. Metal
Release Date: 2011
Label: Self Released

Nya’s self-titled EP has been sitting in my office for a while, waiting to be reviewed and I’m finally getting round to it. The band, according to the several reviews I’ve read of them, are a mix of modern metal, alternative and rock. Sadly, I’ve not found much in terms of the band’s history – unless you include the fact that this British quintet hail from South East England.

Beginning the EP comes the alternative-meets-nu-metal riffs of Face The Music. The vocals of frontwoman Anezka Piska sound eerily familiar, though I’m unable to place where I may heard them. The drums provide a soft, industrialesque flavour to the music, reinforcing the alternative sound of the well crafted riffs. The chorus is quite catchy and will stay with you like a timeless melody. Better Off This Way tears through the speakers with a very alternative flare to the riffs and keyboards. The vocals take up a slight Lacuna Coil sound in the verses, bringing to mind some seriously Gothic metal sounds.

The semi-death metal riffs of The Beckoning tear their through next like scissors cutting through paper with a powerful use of male and female vocals, creating some memorable verses. The guitars in the latter half sound too alternative for the song, especially compared to vicious riffs that screamed with a certain power in the beginning. The EP ends with Fall Of Man, a track that has a certain hint of Slipknot-meets-Korn to the riffs while the drums, in certain sections, sound quite tribal. The awe-inspiring use of male and female vocals echo quite well through the song, adding a quite unique sound to the track while some of the guitar parts lay down some catchy, melodic riffs.

I’m always a skeptic when it comes to alternative music being mixed with metal but Nya are a band I can quite easily forgive for what I normally consider an unholy union of genres. Nya did more than just a good job of mixing two different genres. The riffs have been clearly crafted with both talent and musical genius while the vocals offer up a powerful sound. If melodic yet aggressive riffs, insane drumming and larger than life vocals are what you crave in your daily diet of metal, look no further than Nya.

4.6/5

Nico Davidson

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This entry was posted on 4th March 2012 at 11:25 pm and is filed under Review with tags Extended play, Gothic Metal, Lacuna Coil, Nya, Skratch The Surface, Slipknot, South East England. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.