METHARIA – Promo 2003

The promotional materials accompanying this CD define Metharia as a planet in the Alpha Centaurus Constellation (wherever in Hades that is!). Metharia takes a few liberties at that point and embellishes this planet to be their personal Utopia, where all is in harmony and a perpetually positive vibe emanates towards all from all. What the heck? It sounds good! Sign me up!

Since forming in 1999, this 5-man band from Italy has issued a small handful of self-funded CD’s, an effort which seems to have paid off since Soulfingers Records has picked them up and a full length album from Metharia is expected sometime in 2004 along with a tour. This 15+ minute, self-funded EP is comprised of 4 songs, all sung in Italian: “Riflesso,” “Come Un’ Oasi,” “Destini,” and “Il Buio Della Tempesta.”

When Metahria begins with “Riflesso,” it’s pretty clear they’re playing for keeps. The tempo is fast, but controlled, and the highlight is definitely the bass guitar playing style of Kobal Milanesi, which is strikingly similar to the style of Steve Harris from Iron Maiden…very punchy and complex – definitely not just there as a filler instrument. The guitar sound too is similar to Iron Maiden, especially as heard on their Piece of Mind album. Unfortunately, since the only Italian I know centers around food, and I didn’t hear the words “ravioli” and “linguini” when I listened to this EP, I can’t say much about what this song is about, however, I can tell you Luca Volani has a very clear, forceful voice with good range. There’s plenty of emotion in his vocal presentation – almost a yearning desperation.

Next up is “Come Un’ Oasi,” which starts and ends with a nicely crafted acoustical guitar piece, and generally proceeds along at a subdued, slower pace, successfully showing the band’s versatility.

Third is “Destini,” which starts with an innovative techno introduction, giving way back to the band’s Iron Maiden-esque style, similar in pace to “Riflesso.” Out of the 4 songs on this EP, this song contains the best guitar solo combination, and overall, I found this track to be the most enjoyable and original.

Last is “Il Buio Della Tempesta” – again, I don’t know what the song title means, but it kind of rolls of the tongue well! The track starts off with a mellow guitar intro, then shifts into controlled Metal mayhem before cutting back down to deliver a very unique off-key guitar solo. At first listen, I thought the solo was horrendous, but as I listened to it a few more times, it began to grow on me – in the end, like it or not, the band took a chance, and at the very minimum, it again shows the band is willing to experiment and possesses a strong degree of versatility.

The band’s sound, versatility, and skilled bass guitar play are definitely its strengths. Their tendencies to over-emphasize the vocals and jam the songs with too many lyrics are the mistakes. When a band is capable of writing great music and has developed a great sound, like Metharia in fact has accomplished, sometimes it’s wise to treat the listeners to a couple extended instrumental sections within each song to let them soak in the well-thought out grooves. A tad bit of production refinement should be tendered towards the drum emphasis too. The cymbals crash magnificently and sound great, but the drum sound is a bit muffled compared to the other instruments, which come through very cleanly…overall, though, the production quality is pretty good considering this is a self-funded release!

All in all, this 2003 Promo from Metharia was an interesting listen. If you understand Italian lyrics, or don’t mind lyrics sung in a language other than English, I’d recommend you give Metharia a shot. This EP can be obtained by visiting the band’s Web site @ www.metharia.net. It will be interesting to see what the band does in 2004 now that they have scored a recording contract with Soulfingers Records. Musically, Metharia has plenty to offer the Heavy Metal genre…will they delve into English lyrics to make eventual international acceptance markedly easier? We can only hope!