Album review: MEGARA - Siete

1. Atajo al Cielo (Shortcut to Heaven)

2. En Llamas (On Fire)

3. Vivo de Rodillas (Living on your knees)

4. Fiel a Nada (Faithful to Nothing)

5. Héroes

6. Equilibrio (Balance)

7. Sin Ti (Without You)

8. Seis (Six)

9. Baños de Sangre (Blood Bath)

10. Alas (Wings - Birdy cover)

Megara are a female fronted Hard Rock band from Madrid. I recently saw them play live in Barcelona (check out my live review here), and I bought a CD. Already impressed with their live performance, I was excited to hear their album. It certainly didn't let me down, as it's absolutely fantastic. The first thing that struck me was the slick and expensive sounding production. The album sounds incredible. There are established bands on major labels who's albums don't sound as good as Megara's.

Their music is fresh and contemporary while utilising a classic Hard Rock influence that is present throughout the album. It rocks. It punches. It has massive riffs. Lead singer Kenzy, shows her impressive vocal range and versatility across the ten songs here. She has an amazing voice which complements the rest of the instruments perfectly. There are some really cool guitar solos too, and they're just right. They add to the songs in the way all great solos do, without overpowering or detracting from the song as a whole. This shows that their lead guitarist Rober is more than just a skilled player, but a gifted writer who knows what a song needs.

The album kicks off with the mid paced powerful Atajo al Cielo which has an epic feel and oozes emotion. It sets the tone for the album before second track En Llamas sucker-punches the listener with a huge catchy chorus. The album doesn't let up, and every song delivers the goods. My personal favourites are Baños de Sangre with its infectious groove, the relentlessly heavy Seis, and the album's closer Alas which is a rocked up cover version of Birdie's Wings. Every track is a potential single, and with the longest being just over four minutes long, the album clocks in at a very digestible thirty eight minutes. Like all of the best albums, it's one where you can enjoy it in its entirety without wanting to skip tracks. Being their debut album makes this all the more impressive.

I've had this album for several weeks now and I still listen to it in the car almost every day. There haven't been many records released this year that I can say that about. It's killer song after killer song. Siete is a well crafted and sonically superb album.