It’s been a while since a new one from NinémiA found its way to my review pile, but such occurrences are always a welcome arrival, and Selma, their latest one, is no exception. I have always loved the band’s ability to blend the most extreme sounds – howling vocals and squalling guitars, ironclad riffs and thunderous energies – with more melodic accessibility and depth and intelligence to the lyrical message they promote. And Selma is no exception.
First of all, here is a bit of context. Selma is taken from the band’s current album, Weapons of Math Destruction (I do like a band that appreciates a good pun,) a collection of songs based around some of the biggest issues humanity faces today. It reads essentially like a “choose your adventure” game, where we decide exactly how we destroy ourselves via plague, war, nuclear disaster or some other apocalypse of our own making. Selma offers the scenario that it is through intolerance, oppression, division and a lack of empathy that we finally consign our society to the scrap heap of history.
Employing their usual blend of heavy prog-rock and technical metal, raw rock ‘n’ roll deliveries and sophisticated and ornate playing, they explore the path that has taken us from an empty world and a fledgling society, one full of potential and possibility to where we find ourselves today. Essentially, they ask us a fundamental question. If we were free to build any form of a fair and balanced society, how have we ended up with one that is built on lies and oppression, manipulation and control?
Taking its title from that flash point march in the history of the fight for racial equality, they suggest that far from being just certain ethnic groups and belittled cultures that are held down, and I am in no way taking anything away from their struggles, but in fact, it is all of us that are held in check by the whims of the political and elite classes.
Now, I’m not sure what is going on in the video; some allusion to our ruling elites being figurative aliens calling the shots or perhaps literal aliens controlling the planet’s destiny. I don’t know, but it is a lot of fun, nonetheless.
Selma is one of those rare things, a track from the intense metal realms with something to say and plenty for the listener to consider. It isn’t political, asking only questions and allowing the audience to come to their own conclusions. It is also quite revolutionary in its own sonic way. Hard and heavy yet melodic and groove-driven, and when was the last time that such a big, brutal, bombastic sound made room for a sultry, seductive and soulful sax solo?
As always, a cool song, a deep song, a song with plenty of propositions and a song that reminds us that even at the heavier ends of the musical spectrum, it is possible to mix things up and remain musically adventurous, to break the mould and hop-genres just enough to appeal to the existing fans but also appeal to a whole new wave of people who may have thought that such music wasn’t for them.
But that is just NinémiA doing what it does best.
