VARIAH – Betrayfull Sins

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.

Next session: Sunday 19 January

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 3 December 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)