ALBUM REVIEW: Secrets Of The Future – Reliqa
Long a hotbed of musical talent and experimentation, Australia’s RELIQA are the latest in a proud tradition of exploring new takes on established sounds. The Central Coast quartet are all in their first band together, and have concocted a heady mix of metalcore, prog, groove and a host more that attracted the attention of independent giant Nuclear Blast. With them, they’re about to release their debut album, the boldly titled Secrets Of The Future, after a smattering of EPs that took what could’ve been a scattershot approach to genre fusion and instead refined their brew ever further.
The lead track is also the final single; Dying Light is a bouncy, riffy beast of an opener that swaggers its way into view with vocalist Monique Pym rapping over pulsing synths before an explosion of grooving riffs. Her flows here are simpler, though with a deceptive catchiness to them, but the star of the show is a skyscraping chorus where guitarist Brandon Hutcheson lets fly a melodic lead that, rather than making things overly busy, offers instead an effective counterpoint.
Naturally, that means follow-ups Cave and Killstar (The Cold World) are entirely different beasts – RELIQA aren’t content just to explore one sound, after all. The former delves more into groove metal, while the latter folds in meaty djent riffs and proggy bass lines. It’s an incredibly impressive start, even more so when you remember this is just their debut album; it oozes a confidence in that they can’t be pigeonholed neatly, and it extends even further when they embrace even more prog metal as the album continues.
The Flower has both addictive melodies and Pym spitting some ferocious bars, while Sariah is a near-power ballad where her voice shines even further. There isn’t a single low point on Secrets Of The Future, nor is it overstuffed by ambition; all four members are stellar musicians and have remarkable chemistry from the years spent growing as friends and musicians together. The second half of the album deserves just as much praise as the first; Keep Yourself Awake is a surefire hit with its disco beat and raucous, swaggering bass, while Crossfire stuns with a gorgeous, serpentine vocal hook.
That name, Secrets Of The Future – it’s bold, yes, and seems to claim that RELIQA know what the future sounds like. Well, they’re right. This is progressive music in the truest sense; a refusal to allow the walls of genre or how things “should” be done dictate their approach, and embracing Australia’s isolation from the rest of the world and its trends to make a sound entirely their own. Previous EP I Don’t Know Who I Am is titled like a band going through an identity crisis, but Secrets Of The Future is confident in its ambiguity, the band relishing sinking into a hellacious groove just as much as more tender moments like Sariah. Make no mistake – RELIQA mean business, and this will surely propel them to the heights that the creativity they display deserves.
Rating: 9/10
Secrets Of The Future is set for release on May 31st via Nuclear Blast Records/Greyscale Records.
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