After an acrimonious split from her previous band, Absu, (where she was known as Vis Crom), guitarist Melissa Moore is back in action fronting a new power trio, Sonja. Moore first formed Sonja with drummer Grzesiek Czapla, who’d performed live with Absu, as a way to return to her metal roots. The pair “honed their craft” playing Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate, Venom, Manowar, Witchfinder General and other covers, while Moore developed her voice. The duo then completed the lineup with former Tombs bassist Ben Brand, and began to work on the material for their Arthur Rizk-recorded/mixed/mastered debut, Loud Arriver.
We’re premiering the first video, “Nylon Nights,” from that upcoming release, set to be issued by Cruz del Sur on September 23. The video, directed and edited by Zev Deans, stars a bevy of transgender women—including the lead, Jem—and is perhaps a bold rebuke to Moore’s former band who excommunicated her when she came out as transgender herself in 2017. “Nylon Nights” is also defiantly old-school musically, combining the best aspects of the NWOBHM and early ’80s American metal, with a hint of gothic darkness.
Loud Arriver will feature eight songs and will be available on CD, cassette, vinyl and digital. For pre orders in North America go here. For LP preorders outside of the US, go here; and for CD preorders outside the US, go here.
This is what Moore had to say about her new track:
“Danger and desire keep me alive.
“[This is] possibly the most accurate lyric I’ve ever written. That’s how we ended up in these ‘Nylon Nights.’ Cis luxuries like ‘safety’ and ‘stability’ have no meaning here. That numbness you feel spreading through you deeper than you thought you went? That’s not going away. That’s you now.
“Find us. We’ll be playing in the ruins…we are waiting.”