Bands You Should Try - SONJA

(By Melody Werner)

 

I listen to lots of music that's far outside of the mainstream--not because I think I'm better than anyone who doesn't or because all mainstream music is bad, or anything insufferable like that (my insufferability manifests in other ways); I simply enjoy finding stuff that deserves more attention than it has and spreading the word about it. And who else deserves as much attention as Sonja ought to have?

Sonja is a heavy metal three-piece band hailing from Philadelphia, but its significance in spite of only having two tracks to their name (at time of writing) does not come from nowhere. Rather, a good share of interest has come from guitarist/vocalist Melissa Moore, who was unceremoniously kicked out of blackened thrash band Absu after she came out as trans to her (former) band mates. With Absu having undergone multiple name changes to try and escape the controversy--it's safe to say that Melissa has come out on top here. She's the one who's now in a pretty awesome supergroup with Woe's Ben (on bass) and Grzesiek (on drums), and they [what remains of Absu] are the transphobes struggling to get a new album out after crawling away from her obliteration of them.

Of the two songs Sonja currently has out, both are slices of hard rocking metal exaltations on the beauty of death. I for one favor "Wanting Me Dead" over "Nylon Nights," but they're both great tunes with some excellent performances from all involved. Melissa may be more well known for her guitar playing, but she's fantastic here when it comes to vocals too. With a full-length LP slated for 2021 from Cruz Del Sur Music, I'm eagerly looking forward to whatever they've got next. Also very cool of them to contribute to the Riffs for Reproductive Justice compilation.

If you have a lesser known rock, punk, or metal band you think deserves some respect, shoot them my way in the comments and I'll be sure to check them out for a possible future installment of this segment.