Girl at the Rock Shows

As an old co-worker at my day job used to say, I’m cooling down the jets. It’s only lunchtime on Friday, but with a five-day weekend ahead of me due to the holidays and a trip back to my hometown for said holidays, I’m checked out. I’m ready for a break from the early mornings and stressful days that can come with this job. I’m ready for days filled with nothing but food, drinks, family, and good music, so let’s get a jump start on it by checking out a couple of new albums today, starting with ‘Opia’ from EVA.

‘Opia’ opens with “Bump.” I love how you can hear this song building for the first few seconds before the vocals come in and really introduce you to EVA’s intense, dark, and ominous sound. The craziest thing about this opening track is the fact that even after you’ve been introduced to all of the intricate parts that give EVA their signature sound, the song continues to grow and, by the end of it, although just the first song on this ten song album, I was already exhausted from trying to catch every bit of intense perfection that this band had thrown me. All of this and we are only two and a half minutes into this album. Buckle up, ya’ll. This is going to be a ride, for sure.

I feel like EVA really tried to ease you into their world with the way “Bump” started, but that’s not the case with “Crystal Ball.” This song hits instantly before dropping into a more somber and heartbreaking moment. Just when you get settled into the slight feeling of defeat that comes through with some of the slower-moving vocals, EVA picks it back up and gives you a blast of sheer angst. I already knew that this album as a whole would be a rollercoaster ride of a journey, but I didn’t expect to see such contrasting dynamics in just one song.

“Phlegm” may not be the most beautiful song title I’ve ever seen, but this song is full of beauty. Okay, it’s not the most obvious kind of beauty, but the lyrics and presentation of the lyrics in this song remind me a bit of old-school Slipknot but with a bit more of an almost commercial influence that comes through in the chorus. Like the previous songs, “Phlegm” is such an incredible ride of all kinds of emotions and sounds, all packed into just four and a half minutes. Honestly, this song should feel almost spazzy with all of the changes and movement in the track, but something about how EVA puts it all together leads to a super enjoyable journey that nearly brought me a sense of calm.

Not only is the movement in the songs throughout ‘Opia’ genius but so is the movement through the album. The beauty I felt in “Phelgm” seems to be magnified as the album moves on to “Marching.” This three-minute track comes dripping in emotion and calm. I wish I could say that this was obviously a song from EVA, but when compared to the previous three tracks, “Marching” seems to come out of nowhere. The amount of heartbreak and hurt that came through this song when I was listening to it was staggering. Although it’s not quite what I was in the mood for as I prep for a super long weekend, there’s no understating the track’s beauty and how brilliant it was to see this other side of such an intense band.

It’s almost creepy how quickly and easily EVA slips back into their world of dark intensity as the album moves onto “Echos,” but I also love how it makes this song catch your ears instantly. This fifth track seems to have the same kind of dynamics I felt in “Phlegm,” but there feels to be a bit more sinister energy behind this song, which really hooked me. Although this song isn’t the shortest one of the album, it moves fast, so feel free to pause at this point of the album and listen to “Echos” a few times before moving on to “Whispers In the Fog.”

Just as there had been a stark change in mood between “Marching” and “Echos,” there’s a huge shift from “Echos” to “Whispers In The Fog.” Whereas I got something a bit more sinister from “Echos”, “Whispers In The Fog” felt like a plea for peace. Although this may be a bit too obscure of a reference for some of you, “Whispers In The Fog” was giving me all of the Blindside vibes, and I loved that as Blindside is a band that I feel had such a monumental sound but it just didn’t catch on like it should have. I’m unsure if EVA was channeling that band when writing this track, but I can tell you that I felt as much weight and beauty when listening to “Whispers In The Fog” as when I heard Blindside for the first time.

No surprise here, but things quickly change to the more intense side of things as the album moves onto the title track, “Opia.” Now that I have the Blindside reference stuck in my head, I can’t help but say that this title track sounds a lot like if Blindside and Slipknot had a baby that was raised in the grunge era. Right? All over the place, and you probably think I’m crazy, but truly, just take one listen to this stellar song and try to tell me I’m wrong. I was completely lost in this song until EVA slammed me with another world of theirs as “Paradigm” took over.

“Paradigm” is a straight-up 90s alternative rock song with an alt-metal ending. Okay, that’s not entirely true, but the beginning of this track almost felt awkward to me as it came off as so commercial and, quite frankly, plain, but as the song progresses and you hear more of EVA’s signature sounds and tones, you realize that this is far from a commercial and plain song. In fact, this was the song on the album that made me feel the most. There’s a raw vulnerability behind this song that comes through so loud and clear. As you are getting lost in the vulnerability, a wave of power sneaks up and takes you out right at the knees leaving you struggling to catch your footing as the song fades out with a staggering sense of power. Although I wouldn’t consider this the catchiest track on ‘Opia,’ this is definitely my favorite.

Second to last is “Skin,” and thankfully, the intensity of this song pulled me out of all of the deep thoughts I had going on after listening to “Paradigm” about a dozen times. EVA goes back to their industrial-drenched nu-metal leaning intensely epic dark and ominous sound with this song, which makes it feel like the album is wrapping up, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still some surprises left in this track. There’s an almost primal howl towards the end of this song that, honest to God, creeped me out and felt a bit out of place compared to the more shouted vocals happening over the chaotic instrumentation, but the more I listened to this howl, the more those chills of terror turned into chills of bliss. “Skin” has a lot of intricate details, like that primal howl, that you may not catch upon first listen, so make sure to listen to this song a few times before moving on to the final track.

By the time “RE:Rebirth” came around to close out this epic album, I was exhausted. Not physically, but more mentally. EVA has touched on all of my deepest thoughts and made me question things in my soul while I tried to fight back from being so vulnerable. I feel like “RE: Rebirth” oddly addressed that feeling. It soothed my soul and brain like aloe does over a raw sunburn. It cooled my temper, stopped my heart from racing, and made my nerves come back to a lower level because, unbeknownst to me, they had apparently risen throughout this listen. “RE:Rebirth” cooled me down and helped me to get back on track as far as cooling down the jets were concerned on this day before a long weekend.

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