Some artists set out to make songs that sound raw-edged and full of rage, but nine times out of ten, they come across as all bombast and bluster, like a playground bully puffing up their chest for dramatic effect. With this new single, Lyia Meta sounds like she means it. Boy, and then some … in fact, at times, she genuinely scares me. This is less a performance and more a channeling of feelings that are only summoned in dire emergencies.
“Raging Halls” explores those moments when hesitation turns into action, when you realize everything is at stake, when faced with fight or flight, only the former is an option, those heart-pumping, pulse-racing times when there is everything to play for and much to lose. This is primal instincts turned into song.
Her vocals, always in a league of their own, seem to have reached another level, opening in an already confident, commanding style and then going stratospheric, without sacrificing the brilliant dynamic of epic ebbs and flows, seductive swoons, and soaring crescendos, which shape her performance.
It comes as no surprise to find E.G. Holmes’ hand also involved in the musical composition of “Raging Halls”, an artist whose ability to walk through any sound, style, or genre and make it his own is well evidenced. And whilst the music is big, this is no mere toying with volume and velocity, it is an exercise in sonic emotion, musical tension, and explosive release as it wanders between musical highs and more lulling lows. We are in a world of symphonic arrangement and classic rock energy, a balance of the controlled and calculated, and maelstrom deliveries, and a force to be reckoned with.
the wild and the windswept.
“Raging Halls” is an impressive, impactful, and artistically satisfying record. And even given the caliber of the people she surrounds herself with, Lyia Meta is the standout performer; articulate, artistic, eloquent, anthemic… explosive.
I’m sure she is a lovely person, but given the sheer energy and sonic aggression she unleashes here, I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of her!
