Nervosa: Iron Will
Many bands have had to endure significant changes to their lineups within the world of heavy metal. Trash and death powerhouse NERVOSA have certainly been through it over the last few years with the departure of vocalist Fernanda Lira and drummer Luana Dametto leaving the band the form CRYPTA in 2020 with Diva Satanica taking up the job of vocals. In a sudden turn of events Diva abruptly left the band after only one album in 2022. To lose two vocalists in quick succession is tough for any band to navigate. In an attempt not to let the band crumble, founding member and guitarist Prika Amaral would take up the mantle of NERVOSA’s lead vocalist to much success on 2023’s Jailbreak.
Jailbreak was the sound of a band that felt reinvented and better than ever. With their follow-up album Slave Machine dropping in April, Prika recalls her initial apprehension when faced with the task of leading the band.
“I was trying to avoid another change. When a band changes it’s singer it as always complicated and it’s always a challenge when you have to present someone as the new frontwoman. It made a lot of sense for me to do this for NERVOSA as I had been there this whole time. It wasn’t something that I exactly wanted, but it felt right. I was scared to be honest because I wasn’t confident I could make it work in such a short period of time. I discussed it with the rest of the band and they said it made the most sense and they were sure I could do it. Looking back now, of course it was for sure the best thing to do for NERVOSA but it was a very nervous time for me.
Prika’s first album as the frontwoman for NERVOSA was certainly a trial by fire. Taking the reigns of a band long into it’s life was always going to be daunting. After more than proving the strength of the new lineup on Jailbreak, NERVOSA charged into the creation of follow up Slave Machine with full confidence.
“We started this one about two years ago and originally it was going to be an EP just so we could keep new music coming out in good time. Very quickly we thought ‘these songs are too good to just be in an EP’. We were so inspired by what we had written so why not go all the way and make a new album. This album was so much easier for me than Jailbreak. As I said, that one was very scary for me regarding how much quality I could give to fans. The first song I did was Endless Ambition and I hated it at first. Luckily our producer and Helena Kotina thought it was awesome! I just had to trust them to tell me when it worked or when it didn’t. Now for Slave Machine all those internal questions and doubts were gone. I have more stamina, I have more confidence so now they have to tell me when to stop doing vocals in the studio because I want to keep going!”
Much like the NERVOSA albums prior, Slave Machine tackles current talking points regarding our ever changing world. Be it politics, existence or the ever evolving role that technology plays within everyone’s lives. A unifying view within NERVOSA was concern over how reliant humanity has now become with tech.
“This album is about freedom and a huge scream to the world about everything happening right now. I remember when we started talking about the theme for the album and we all agreed. We felt enslaved by our cellphones. It’s crazy that we all get anxious if we are away from our phones for more than an hour. It feels like we’re being sent an important message here, that we need to know our boundaries and know how to deal with tech in our lives. I mean look at AI. It’s so new in our lives and we still need to figure out what to do with it and what consequences it might bring.”
From the beginning of their career to this day NERVOSA remains a completely women filled band. While ongoing discourse around terms such as ‘female fronted metal’ has made movements to address the balance between men and women within the scene, providing opportunities for rising female talent within music is still very much important to Prika.
“Women still have less opportunity than men do. Most bands these days are all male so I wanted to keep this band all women because that felt right. Also the name of the band is a feminine name. NERVOSA is a Portuguese word meaning ‘nervous’ in the feminine form so this band was always meant to be a place for women. What’s great is there are more and more women in the scene these days. If there is a good part of the internet it’s that everyone, no matter male or female, gets to put themselves out there and the best spaces are democratic. I got to rebuild this band twice because of social media so wherever I see a young talented woman I always show my support to keep them strong because they are valuable and welcome in the scene.”
After many years of changing lineup ups and pushing hard to get themselves onto world stages, NERVOSA find themselves at the most determined stage of their career so far. While no fan would dismiss the band’s classic albums as anything lesser than top notch epic thrash metal, the perseverance that has led to NERVOSA’s newest effort demonstrates them as perhaps one of the most determined bands around.
“I wanted to honour the sacrifice from everyone in this band. It is not just me and my life but the life of everybody involved in this project. We left everything behind and have fought so much for where we are now. I am very clear in my mind that I am in NERVOSA and I will do everything that is best for NERVOSA. That’s why I accepted the challenge to lead the band, not because of ego but because I want it to be everything it can be.”
Slave Machine is out now via Napalm Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS129 here.
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