Arya – Dreamwars (Review)

Arya are an Italian progressive/post-metal band and this is their second album.

Arya play modern progressive/post-metal with some djent and technical influences. However, this description doesn’t tell the complete story at all.

The album has a surprisingly warm sound that’s way more earthy and natural-sounding than a lot of bands that might ostensibly be considered Arya’s peers usually employ. The mix of very modern riffs with this older-styled production definitely adds to the band’s uncommon sound.

How to describe this…If you imagine a band like Madder Mortem mixed with a bit of Periphery’s musical complexity, a splash of The Great Discord’s soulful metal, and a flavour of Midas Fall’s emotive post-rock, then that’s a start for sure.

I always like it when I stumble across a band that are doing something a bit more interesting, individual, and unconventional with their music, and Arya certainly qualify. They have enough familiar elements in their sound to draw you in, but they keep you engaged with their non-standard delivery, soulful songs, and emotive music.

And all of this so far without even mentioning their singer. Her warm, textured vocals wrap around the involved music like a seductive embrace. It says a lot about the strength of the music that although her performance is a focal point in the songs, it doesn’t dominate things; she’s another part of the band’s musical arsenal, and a very effective one at that.

The album tells a journey, lyrically and musically, and the flow of the songs carries you through them with ease. Dreamwars feels like an experiential journey, one which aims to teach and inform as much as entertain and gratify. There’s a lot of beauty on this release, both in plain sight and hiding under some of the harder, angular edges of the songs.

This is a very strong release, and one that’s worth taking the time to explore. Its atypical style surely won’t appeal to everyone, but it’s certainly found a welcome home in my collection.