ANNA KIARA
Symphony Of Rage
Independent

Anna KiaRa is a well known name in the realm of symphonic metal having been on vocal duty in Imperial Age for seven years before leaving in 2016 to start her own band, originally called KIARA which then became Anna KiaRa in 2023. Anna also performs vocals for Njörda, an awesome folk metal band focusing on Norse mythology, check them out if you get a chance, I highly recommend them.

“Symphony Of Rage” is the third full length album from Anna KiaRa so let’s dive in and see what the album has in store for us.

Opening track “Blood Of Heroes” immediately sets the tone and throws us into a realm of Sword and Sorcery, fit with tales of epic battles, the lives lost on the battlefield and talk of a mythic sword. The song gallops along at a good pace, the drums and bass setting a good rhythm whilst the guitars and keys provide ample flowing melody lines. Anna’s vocals really stand out and help set this apart from being just another symphonic metal album but rather an album which has something really enchanting about it.

Talking of mythic Swords… “Excalibur” is up next and in an interesting turn of events the song turns out to be a sorrowful lament instead of the typical rousing battle song you might have expected when seeing the name. A beautiful flute melody really adds to the feel of the track and the guitar solo is exquisite in its sorrowful tone.

“She-Wolf” adds a bit of bite with its crunchy riffs and metronome styled groove as Anna sings of the danger ahead and the path of the Wolf whilst “Journey To The Stars” fills us with wonder with its uplifting melody and almost spacey guitar and synth tones, truly wonderful stuff.

Title track “Symphony Of Rage” is an album highlight with its menacing, almost smouldering anger and an infectious bass groove that runs deep in the song giving it a solid backbone on which to build the many other sonic layers of perfection. Thunderous drums and some harsh vocals also help give the song that harder edge that cuts through the ethereal melodies on the rest of the album. “Poetry Of Despair” needs to be mentioned in the same breath as “Symphony Of Rage” as it is another stand out track. The drum-work and keyboards are stellar and actually makes parts of the song feel like a Cradle Of Filth ballad, it definitely has a similar atmosphere and that is a massive compliment to the band.

“Reborn” is a beautiful ballad, full of sorrow but not without the feeling of ‘hope’ and this leads us wonderfully into “Flight Of The Valkyrie” which ends the album* in tremendous fashion. The song is like a battle anthem and it instantly fills you power and strength, it’s almost as if you are the fierce Valkyrie warrior.

All together this is a wonderful new album from Anna KiaRa. It’s full of emotion, wonderful story telling and excellent song writing. The whole band put in fantastic performances and the production is top notch. I really hope to be able to catch them live one day. Symphonic metal has another gem in its crown and the soundtrack is a Symphony of Rage.

*The album has another six tracks which are Russian language versions of tracks on the album

Russell Mulock-Bentley