Nervosa Live at Glasgow Audio - 15/8/15
Nervosa are a three piece Thrash Metal band from Brazil and are on their first ever tour of Europe, comprising 51 shows in 16 countries! Their music is completely incendiary, taking Thrash Metal to new creative places, and Sonic Bandwagon recommend you check out their explosive new album Victim of Yourself on Napalm Records.
Thrash Metal, for the uninitiated, is driven with fast paced rhythms drawn from punk music, mixed with the down tuned guitar riffs from the very first waves of Heavy Metal, together with wonderfully aggressive vocals, and with the emotions turned up to 10 on the dial! Think, for example, Deep Purple meets the Clash with the sneering emotional vocals of Johnny Rotten or Patti Smith, and you will get a sense of it, but better still, go and see Nervosa live in full flight and listen to their new album!
The band hit the stage of Glasgow’s premier metal venue Audio with real purpose and intent with Fernanda Lira, bassist and vocalist, wearing a Venom t-shirt. In an interview with Sonic Bandwagon before the gig, Fernanda spoke about how much the UK feels to her to be the birthplace of Metal, and wearing the Venom t-shirt was her acknowledgement of this.
Twisted Values with its thrash aggression, death metal accents, and changes of pace is a great opening number, which immediately sets Audio alight. After it concludes, Fernanda shares touchingly with the Glasgow audience that the band’s first time in the UK feels really special.
From the first couple of numbers it is clear what makes Nervosa so special as a band. Fernanda’s growling vocals are so emotionally expressive and she makes striking eye contact with the audience. Her bass playing is a revelation! She plucks the strings and doesn’t use a pick, doing so much more than just hold down the rhythm. Prika Amaral’s guitar miraculously runs the gamut from thrash, through death metal to doom metal, providing a creative breadth to their music. Pitchu Ferraz on drums has a jazz like subtly combined with a relentless punk like attack. The three are a lethal combination live, creating a mesmerising Metal sound impossible to resist.
Into Moshpit is of course a set highlight with Prika’s abrasive guitar playing, and the song’s incredibly infectious riffs; a classic thrash song! It’s followed by the title track of the new album Victim of Yourself, with the riff starting off very deftly by Fernanda’s bass. It’s a wonderful song driven by lyrics that speak to the tragedy of running away from who you really are. Fernanda’s vocal perfectly conveys the desperation and raw emotion at the heart of that flight away from your authentic self.
There are chants of ‘Nervosa! Nervosa!’ from the Glasgow audience…and only in Glasgow… beach balls flying around the audience, and scary stage diving on to beach floats. It starts to get completely mad in the mosh pit!
The final number is Masked Betrayer, which Fernanda introduces with the words ‘Thank you for being part of our history!’ This song has everything great Metal should have, a monstrously heavy classic Metal riff and incredibly fast thrash segments. The band are completely locked into the music, communicating on an almost telepathic shared musical understanding and empathy. Astonishingly good!
A fantastic live set, by a musically gifted and passionate band. Metal just gets better and better with bands like Nervosa around!
All gig photographs by Lewis Allen.
About the Author
Gareth Allen A committed metal head with a love of jazz, soul, and folk. Living in Central Scotland and attending gigs in Edinburgh and Glasgow, with it's really amazing venues. My iconic moment... being invited on stage at the Glasgow Garage, by DevilDriver's Dez Fafara!
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