Kandia seemed to come out of nowhere with a stellar album that quickly became one of my favorite releases of 2010. And that's not to imply that Portugal is nowhere land, but there certainly aren't a lot of female fronted metal bands coming from there. This is truly one of the best hard rock albums I've ever heard. These songs are so damn punchy and the riffs are just fabulous. Nya Cruz has power to spare in the vocal department and shows a certain soul element in her singing. Her vocals really take the songs to a level of power and strength far beyond many other female fronted metal bands.

The guitars have a fabulous metal crunch to them, but they maintain a clarity that makes them cut through without overpowering anything else. I'd love to know what equipment André is playing through to get such a great sound. He seems to have an amazing talent for coming up with spectacular guitar tracks that just explode out of your speakers, and Nya keeps up with him without any problem at all. Kandia's rhythm section is incredibly accurate and really does a great job of holding things together. The songs are very dynamic, with very well thought out changes in tempo and volume, and really nice bridges. Although most of the tracks are quite hard hitting in nature, they are also very melodic. There's no way I can pick out any standout songs, because honestly, there are just too many. The quality of the songs is consistent through the entire album. There are no fillers here. Also, they have achieved excellent sound quality on the album, so all of the elements come across very clearly, and with a good kick.

This band delivers superb, straight ahead hard rock that is sure to please. You should definitely grab yourself a copy of this album. I'm giving it 9/10 to leave room for a 10/10 on their next album!

  © John Davies 2010