Sonja – Loud Arriver
September 23rd, 2022
Traditional Heavy Metal / Goth Rock
Cruz del Sur Music
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
In 2020 the well known American black metal outfit Absu split up, with guitarist Melissa Moore, a transgender woman, citing transphobia from her bandmates as one of (but not the only) reason for the band’s dissolve. While it sucks, it was only a speed bump in Moore’s career, as it was only a matter of time before she returned with a new band. Sonja is that band, and upon first listen, metal fans may be surprised. No longer is Moore playing the occultic blackness of Absu. Instead, Sonja reaches farther back into metal’s history, drawing upon elements of traditional heavy metal, hair metal and goth rock to create a unique sound that is, as far as I know, unparalleled in the modern landscape of traditional metal revivalism.
Loud Arriver is the debut record for Philadelphia’s Sonja, and that title is indeed quite apt. Featuring eight tracks of dark and brooding mysteria, Sonja is perhaps some of the most melancholic traditionalist heavy metal I’ve ever heard. Though this album is indeed catchy, and is infused with hooks similar to bands like Haunt or even Christian Death, they are all draped in this atmosphere of darkness and fog. it feels like some kind of ancient relic drawn up from the past, from a time before the internet, and before mass global communication. It feels like an antique from a bygone age, yet it feels like a remarkably fresh take on the genre.
Moore herself handles vocals and guitars on this record, and from what I can tell is the primary songwriter. Her vocals on here may initially rub some people the wrong way in the same way that the vocals of a band like Haunt or Thunderor might. They’re good, and they hit the right notes, but they’re not particularly extreme in the vein of a Ronnie James Dio or a Bruce Dickinson. However I think that this style of vocal performance works incredibly well for this style of music. The vocal melodies are insanely catchy and induce a sing-along vibe to them, especially on some of the catchier numbers on here, like “When the Candle Burns Low…” or “Nylon Nights”. They’re also incredibly saccharine. Listening to the vocals on this record makes me feel like I’m eating cotton candy, except that’s it a disturbing shade of grey. It still tastes the same, but it looks unseemly.
The guitars on here are very atmospheric and moody as well. They’re draped in a veneer of reverb and depression. Even songs like the aforementioned “Nylon Nights”, which are pretty upbeat and poppy, still feel downtrodden and morose thanks to the foggy and rain-soaked atmosphere they’re immersed in. In fact I would go so far as to say this song shines through on the tracklist almost as if a dimly lit lighthouse beacon through a coast drenched in fog at midnight, whereas many of the other songs on here, feel like being immersed directly in that fog with only a torch to guide one’s path.
The bass, provided by Ben Brand, formerly of the band Tombs, also stands out heavily on this record. It’s incredibly thick and cuts through the mix in a loud and in-your-face fashion. I always laud a record that isn’t afraid to put the bass so front and center, and here is no different. The bass is by far the instrument that draws upon goth rock as a genre of influence for this record, and its the combination of bass with the guitars that gives this record its 80’s goth rock meets 80’s hair metal vibes. There are a lot of tracks on here where Brand will simply play one note on repeat in the same way a band like The Cure or The Sisters of Mercy might. However, that’s not to say that he doesn’t bust out some killer fills or interesting moments here or there. The song “Pink Fog” features some pretty badass slides during the pre-chorus that I absolutely love.
The drums are performed by Grzesiek Czapla, and he does a fantastic job capturing the drumming style of both goth rock and hair metal bands of the 80’s. I don’t want to discount the other songs on this record but “Nylon Nights” is so goddamned good that I’m going to use it as a point of reference once again. The way Czapla transitions between disco beats and loud accents on the crash cymbals is magnificent. It’s simple but it’s incredibly effective, and in some cases it’s what makes the song as good as it is.
There is also a lot of variety on this record, despite the genres I’ve referenced multiple times throughout this review. The album opens with “When the Candle Burns Low…” which is a slow and moody piece that feels like it could almost be part of an atmospheric black metal record in the way it builds up. “Nylon Nights” is a big-phat-riff banger of a song that easily demonstrates why it was the lead single from this record. Then, you have a song like “Wanting Me Dead”, which is almost a post punk song with its tempo and the way the guitars quietly echo over the drums.
The lyrics on this record come across both personal and relatable throughout. There are a lot of references to Moore’s own journey and experience as a transgender woman and how that has affected her mental health as well as her sexuality. Many of the songs on this record deal with lust and sex such as the tongue-in-cheek “Fuck, Then Die”, which is quite literally about fucking all night because there is an impending nuclear war that’s going to kill everybody, or “Moans from the Chapel”, which is about sneaking into a church and having sex with one’s dead lover before they are finally put to rest. Other songs like “Wanting Me Dead” deal quite literally with the nature of society’s view towards trans people, with the song directly mentioning religious figures and medical professionals and one’s own family members openly wanting someone dead just for being trans.
I also really dig the production on this album. Everything is absolutely drenched in reverb, which gives the record a very old school vibe. This thing feels like it was recorded in a giant cave and is being blasted out in a cloud of pink smoke amid the setting sun and swarms of bats. It’s big and arena-sized yet also feels close and intimate. As mentioned before, this record feels like a relic from the past, and the production is a big part of that.
All in all this is far and away one of my favourite records of 2022. When I first popped this album on I had no idea what to expect, but the lead single “Nylon Nights” instantly had me hooked. That is for sure one of the best songs of the year, and while the rest of the record may not grab me as much as that one song does, the other songs on here still go hard as fuck. This is a fantastic debut from Sonja and I absolutely cannot wait to hear what they do next.
Final Verdict: 9/10
Awesome
Favourite Tracks:
“When the Candle Burns Low…”
“Nylon Nights”
“Wanting Me Dead”
“Fuck, Then Die”
“Daughter of the Morning Star”
~ Akhenaten
Where Strides The Behemoth? 