Reliqa - 'Secrets Of The Future' - Album Review

It is getting increasingly hard to keep track of the hundreds of new bands coming up each year, so rising local outfits can remain under the radar. At the start of the year, you would be forgiven for missing out on who Aussie quartet Reliqa were, despite their fantastic 2022 I Don't Know What I Am EP. However, with their mesmersing debut Secrets of the Future finally out now via Nuclear Blast, neglecting them has officially become a matter of criminal ignorence. Without bias or exaggeration, the Sydney four-piece have crafted a near-perfect modern metal record that simply cannot be neglected, and is bound to push their name forward to the wider audience and bigger stages where they belong without a doubt.

In recent years, we have finally seen bands blow up simply for offering a fresh perspective outside of the proven formula, regardless of their genre, and testing more creative outlets than the ones that were expected across the scene before. Naturally, Bad Omens, Spiritbox and Sleep Token come to mind, but they are merely the mainstream cases leading the pack, and although Reliqa are still relatively new and far from reaching those highs, the initial signs of greatness are on full display, and if they maintain the brilliant direction shown in Secrets of the Future, you won't be able to ignore them for much longer. Different and unique for all the right reasons, heavy and melodic at just the right levels, driven and ambitious but also playful, there is not much more that one can expect from debut in 2024..

Stylistically, Secrets of the Future offer a very balanced perspective on most genres worth exploring and blending. s a journey that will leave you eager to start it over and over again. It is energetic, uplifting and supercharged with youtful energy whilst also remaining calm and soothing, and although credit goest to the entire band for maintaining harmony and consistency throughout the record, singer Monique Pym steals the show with her perfectly composed and balanced delivery. Naturally, the main focus here will be the vibey 'Terminal' and relentless 'Killstar' and driven 'Dying Light', but there is so much more hiding undeneath. The album flirts with electronics and various industrial tropes, moulding them into beautiful sounscapes, aethereal atmosphere and memorable modern metal anthems. Reliqa's profile further elaborates on Secrets of the Future as "the sound of a band leaving no stone unturned in their pursuit of complete musical expression" and combining "the most savage and passionate elements that make modern metalcore such an institution, then throwing lashings of electronica, pop, prog and post-hardcore in for the thrill of it, the result is ferocious, forward-thinking and, most importantly, fun", and this simply an overview.

Secrets of the Future uncovers new twists upon each listen, from the driven opening with 'Dying Light' and 'Cave' all the way to its grand finale with the captivating 'A Spark' and epic 'Upside Down'. Coming from a fairly proggy background, Reliqa are expectedly experimental but without becoming too demanding, and hitting the sweet spot between overwhelming avant-harde and boring predictability. As a result, the prevalent metalcore riffage and djenty song structures come as a welcome counterbalance to all memorable hooks and subtle pop inspirations, all refreshing nuances rather than overbearing complications.

So far this year we have seen plenty of fantastic debut LPs, quite a few from local Aussie bands, and Reliqa joins the pack right at the forefront with their exemplary Secrets of the Future. This is a band confidently pushing their own boundaries with striking awareness of their strenghts and potential. Hard to pin down to a single genre or niche, and even harder to decipher, the band has grown immensely from their previous EPs and one could only hope they keep up in the same direction, as marvelously unknown as it is.

Reliqa - 'Secrets Of The Future'

Country: Australia

Released: 31 May 2024

Label: Nuclear Blast / Grayscale Records

Tracklisting:

1. Dying Light

2. Cave

3. Killstar (The Cold World)

4. The Flower

5. Sariah

6. Terminal

7. Keep Yourself Awake

8. Crossfire

9. Physical

10. Two Steps Apart

11. A Spark

12. Upside Down