90%
So many bands have been labelled “a burgeoning force” or “rising stars” since Australia started to accept it actually had a heavy music scene a few years back that it’s hard to keep track.
Reliqa is one band that deserves the plaudits they’ve been getting. Their new EP is a frankly stunning display of the sheer talent this Central Coast unit has at its disposal. The title track’s combination of bristling guitars, djenty grooves, electronics and powerful, melodic vocals goes right to the heart of everything Reliqa brings to the table, along with the weirdly prevaricating arrangement into the back half.
It definitely stamps them as a band that does things their own way, and singer Monique Pym adds a further touch of individuality with some spitfire rapping to spice up The Bearer of Bad News.
Dropping raps into metal songs can be a distraction that pulls you out of the moment, but Pym does it to perfection, a sudden slap to the face that’s gone again almost before you notice it. Into Safety and Reliqa get heavier still, bringing in Sean Harmanis from Make Them Suffer to add his roaring death metal bellow to Pym’s raft of overlaid melodic voices. Her voice somewhere between Courtney LaPlante and Cristina Scabbia, Pym commands the opening third of Second Nature with its multi-layered keys when Brandon Lloyd appears out of nowhere to drop in some ragged riffing that splits the track in two. On The Ritualist, Reliqa take their gift for composition and arrangement to an epic level, closing their EP with a gigantic track that floats in on electronics before Lloyd smothers it with a catchy piece of djenty technicality, throwing in a slinky guitar solo later on while brisk drum work underpins the layers of vocals and synths.
Reliqa may have called this release I Don’t Know What I Am, but as a band they are certainly in command of their identity and direction.
