In critical situations, people often reveal their true selves. When push comes to shove, carefully constructed public images crumble away like sand castles in a heatwave. Some individuals will surprise you by showing their basic decency, others by displaying the exact opposite. As it turned out, and as the metal community got to see about two years ago in a widely publicized exchange of text messages, the true self of long-standing Texan death/black metal outfit Absu appeared to be misogynistic and transphobic.
What had happened? Some time before that text message exchange, the band’s guitarist Melissa Moore had come out as transgender to her bandmates of almost a decade, hoping that she would have their support in this crucial period of her life. Instead, she was ousted from the band. Her decision to transition apparently received comments like “There is no place for a woman in this band”. Also, there were worries expressed about the band’s legacy being tainted. After some to and fro which included fights about already written and recorded music, the band that had existed for three decades, fell apart.
During the whole mess, Moore had the support of one sole band member. One person rose to the occasion and that was touring drummer Grzesiek Czapla. It was with him that Moore had started a side project in 2014. The project’s name was Sonja, and with Absu in a state of collapse, this was the project they focused on. After a while they were joined by bassist Ben Brand who completed the three-piece line up. Apart from playing guitar, Moore, for the first time, took on lead vocal duties as well.
Several years in the making, Sonja’s debut album Loud Arriver is now finally being released by Italian label Cruz del Sur who, after introducing New Yorkers Sanhedrin to the European metal community, are proving once again that they have a nose for an updated form of traditional metal. Having listened to Loud Arriver almost non-stop for the last week or so, I can tell you that Melissa Moore has taken revenge in the best way possible for the treatment she received from her former band, namely by recording a phenomenal debut album.
Loud Arriver mixes all the best that metal and rock have come up with over the decades, and gives it a new and updated finish. From the very first track and the interplay of drums and guitar, you can tell that everyone involved is absolutely A league. The album’s eight songs are expertly written, hook-laden, melodic, exhilarating and great fun to listen to. Whether you are a lover of traditional heavy metal, goth rock or post punk – you’ll be playing air guitar and air drums in no time. It is simply impossible to keep still while listening to the album. One song is better than the other. My favourite of the eight is Wanting Me Dead. It deals with the hatred a transgender person encounters from all around, not excluding mother, father and themselves. The guitar and the drums repeat the same sequences over and over again which creates an atmosphere of urgency, of running around in circles or bouncing off of walls. You know that sooner or later the built-up, negative energy is going to explode, and it does, in the form of tremolo picking and drum rolling. Simply excellent song writing.
I enjoyed Loud Arriver very much, musically and philosophically. To people in the community thinking along the lines of Melissa Moore’s former band members, I’d like to pose a question: Who, if not metal, is going to embrace people that the establishment shuns for what they are and what they look like? If you don’t agree, despite all the knowledge you think you own about metal, you need to go back to square one and take a good look at the album covers and the lyrics of the songs you so cherish. Metal is and has always been the home for everything that deviates from the norm, the home for outcasts. And we treat each other with respect.
Loud Arriver by Sonja is an outstanding album bringing fresh themes to a slightly aging medium, traditional metal, and rejuvenating it thereby. It could end up on many best-albums-of-the-year lists. I know that I will put it on mine and probably at one of the top positions.
(9/10 Slavica)
23/09/2022 at 10:07 am
“Who, if not metal, is going to embrace people that the establishment shuns for what they are and what they look like?”
Well said!