Arya Shares Captivating And Trailblazing Modern Emotional Metal On New LP ‘Endesires’

Arya crafts deeply emotional metal that’s for those who enjoy being pressured in ways they might not be normally when listening to heavy music. From the get-go, it’s clear that the band knows precisely how to convey the intense emotional state they’re exploring through their music. The first song – and following tracks – make ample use of intensely affecting cascades and crescendos, taking the listener along for a ride that’s clearly about more than just what can be done with instruments.

Arya bends “heaviness” to their will on their 2018 release Endesires, sharing a modernized and personalized vision that treads its own version of the line between heaviness and emotion. Importantly though, the whole band is pressing the same direction. The unique clean vocal work presented on the release helps establish this trend. The band’s frontwoman sends their voice down a meandering river cutting through darkness, presenting an almost folksy tone that, remarkably, pretty quickly proves to work.

Each element of the music carts the listener off down that metaphorical river. There’s no disjointed sense between the music and the thematic presentation of the record, which admittedly pops up at times elsewhere. Some bands sound like they’ve plopped an overly candy-fied sheen of “care” onto some perhaps engaging but still disconnected riffing – but not Arya. This band knows exactly where it’s going, or so it sounds.

Even while maintaining their important emotional tethers, the band’s music also contains prowess evident all on its own. They blend unique progressive and traditional metallic elements into something on a cutting edge of modern music.

The metaphorical pitch black made known by their music feels torn asunder at times, with the band presenting a darkly hued but flowing dreamscape of sorts. It’s as if they’re tearing into the walls of their own psyches in an orderly fashion, with that order important to their overall presentation. The somehow not terrifying but instead cathartic soulful night envelops the listener as they make their way through Endesires. The band feels intent on enacting this sort of response through their music, giving a “voice” to the dark travels, and they know precisely how to do so.

5/5 Stars

Listen below, via Bandcamp.