Alt Blk Era – Rave Immortal | Album Review

Alt Blk Era's debut album Rave Immortal is everything everyone anticipated for the talented alternative duo from Notthingham and more.

Sisters Nyrobi and Chaya Beckett-Messam, aka Alt Blk Era, have been on the radar of the alternative music scene for the past few years after their appearance at huge festivals such as Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds and being nominated for the Heavy Music Awards. There is something so captivating about these two artists who, with their complementary voices and their alternative style mixed with EDM, are conquering the hearts of all the young outcast kids of their generation.

Rave Immortal starts with ‘Straight To Heart’, a previously released single which is the perfect track to introduce you to the band’s versatility, with soft drum and bass blended with slightly distorted guitars in the background. Perhaps not the strongest start in terms of energy levels, however a really good showcase of good, clean, poppy vocals.

The second track ‘Come on Outside’ is a straightforward indie rock song, in the best possible way. The sound is young and pure and seems to be coming straight out of the early 2000s. It could easily be an Avril Lavigne‘s ballad. The band shared that a lot of the music in this album is about Nyrobi’s hidden disability, a result of chronic illness that took hold during her teens and left her bed-ridden for years. She says that songs like ‘Come on Outside’ are especially important to them as it perfectly encapsulates the importance Chaya had on her for support, solace and inspiration to go back into producing music together. It might be considered the most mellow sound of the album but these two singers are definitely suited for this genre. 

From here on there’s a sudden 360° flip, starting with the defiant energy of ‘Crashing Parties’ waking us up into their world of crossover drum and bass. This track defines what to expect from the rest of the record: finely crafted beats blended with some nu-metal and pop punk sounds. The sisters’ vocals, one perhaps more aggressive and the other softer and angelic are both polished and on pitch and blend together perfectly into a fresh tone.

‘My Drummer’s Gilrfliend’ and ‘Hunt You Down’ have a very radio friendly sound that brings you once again back to the early 2000s. You can’t help but noticing that the music these Gen Z talents are producing is somehow circling back to the same times when millennials were the silly teenagers going to parties, drinking way too much and dressing emo. The times when Lady Gaga and Ke$ha mixed perfectly with the alternative scenekids’ culture. We all remember the MySpace era, when Enter Shikari were the coolest band around, well, Alt Blk Era are somehow bringing back those exact vibes and it’s intriguing.

However, something that definitely changed since that time is that the duo are far more conscious and deep in their choice of words in their lyrics and it’s noticeable that their vocals are often unaltered, needing no enhancements. In fact, in tracks like ‘Upstairs Neighbours’ that presents a lot of voice filters or ‘Come Fight Me For it’ that doesn’t leave enough space for singing compared to the EDM, you can just tell that something is missing.

‘Run Rabbit’ definitely takes the spot for “tune” of the record as it can only be described as a banger. Catchy, great vocal melodies and you can’t get it out of your head even just after one listen. ‘Catch Me If You Can’ takes you off guard, almost as they decided that it was enough with electronic music for now and it’s time to go dark. The sound here is almost epic metal, with double pedals and long-held notes. Even though this is not a quiet song either, we are almost catching a breathe from the previous drum and bass tunes. Another interesting switch in genre for Alt Blk Era. We love to see a versatile band who doesn’t like to be put into a box.

Finally, title track ‘Rave Immortal’ comes and we’re back to a drum and bass dance floor which is great, because it would’ve been a mistake not to finish on that mood. These girls are definitely not afraid of experimenting and are representing a whole group of people that have always struggled to make their space into the alternative scene. They are spreading love, sisterhood and they are the real protagonist in their own story. So young but so full of talent, we can only hope to see them thriving for much longer.