30th January 2020

Review: “Red Sky” EP by Nada

Duo João and Fred released their debut EP as NADA in January, giving it the title “Red Sky“. A Concept EP about a person who has lost everything with songs to convey the sensations that go into a persons head in that metal state. Mixed and Mastered by Miguel Tereso of Demigod Recordings, it was preceded in December by a music video for single “Doomed“. Directed and edited by Rita Orienim and João Mineiro himself, it shines a spotlight onto what the band are looking to create in a Post Death Metal World…

…as the sounds of gunfire and screams litter the opening of “Doomed” there is that sense of the impending and a rich Tech-Metal infused dirge laden with DJent groove touches with a dark atmosphere is ushered in in fine fashion. A powerhouse of chugging rhythmic bludgeoning lit up by some Progressive lead moments, it’s an impressive start to say the least. Title track “Red Sky” follows the dirge laden riffs of thick gauge 8 string mastery but lyrically comes from a darker place, asking or begging even to erase all of the memories of pain. The unclean vocal delivery is a solid bark, clean enough for the lyrics to be plainly auditable and brutal enough to sooth the ears of a savage beast. A melodic progressive instrumental passage for the final 90 seconds or so gives time to thin about the sentiment before the acoustic wanderings of “Desassossego” begin. Taking us in a completely different direction to the open pair of cuts, this one is has a warmer feeling acoustic guitar sound with a colder ambient sound underneath it that brings a sense of mourning and loss to the instrumental of dark beauty. The song title means “Restlessness” and that’s what you get from the acoustic underpinning.

“Alucinado” meaning “Hallucinated” keeps that haunting sense while building upon it with a return to the 8 string DJent groove and some slow crushing sonics. It’s the spaces between those grooves which makes the real difference with little nuances of riffs and atmospherics and there is a breakdown towards the end which sounds familiar but this reviewer can’t place at the timing of writing. “Inconsciente” or “Unconscious” is a the second instrumental, comprised of a white noise esq ambient sound underneath a layer of something like feedback that you might find on the sound track to a science fiction film set in deep space. It’s a piece of shoegazing brilliance that leads in “Machine” for a crushing crescendo of DJent power. Accented English vocals are a joy and while you could reference Gojira, NADA occupy the space between them and Periphery. Oh and that pick slide into the dirty downtempo breakdown section? It speaks for itself with the accompanying lyrics “Rage, mental breakdown” indeed. [7.5/10]

Track listing