Variah hail from wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen, formed in 2009 by Enrique Justiniano and Martin Winslow from the ashes of several experimental projects featuring the pair. They took a heavier direction at this point and were joined by three other like-minded souls who honed their sound for a couple of years before unleashing this, their debut album.
The band master in prog metal and it is fine stuff, Dream Thearteresque but turned all the way up to eleven. I did falter a bit when listening to opening track ‘Disbelieves’ as vocalist Magnus Thomson sounded about a couple of keys out of tune at some points, but persevere and it all becomes crystal clear. The playing on all tracks is excellent with melodies mixed well with heavy riffs and intricate guitar work. The band describe their sound as ‘ melodic, symphonic, classical, metal/rock’, which is perhaps a bit overstated but not far off, it is impressive stuff.
Stand out tracks on the album are ’Cast The Spell’ which has an incessant, driving riff, ’Hidden Agenda’ which contains some breathtaking interaction by all the musicians and the last track ’ Tear You Apart’ which is the longest track on the album and starts out as a bit of a slow burner but turns into a full on prog metal master class, it even has a bit of rap in the middle, but it is only a brief snippet thankfully !
Overall then, this is a damn fine debut album from Variah and hopefully this project will be one that lasts the test of time.
****
David Wilson
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.
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Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024
ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
LAUREN FREEBIRD Like A Bomb (indie)
Featured Albums w/c 15 April 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)
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