By Andrew Bansal
February 15th 2015, Loaded Rock Bar, Hollywood CA: After a few years of buildup since their 2010 inception, Novareign have risen as new representatives of progressive power metal in Los Angeles. Featuring in their ranks on guitar Balmore Lemus, former frontman of Exmortus and touring guitarist for Warbringer, Novareign put out a four-song demo EP called ‘Reign Of The Infinite Sun’ in 2014, and with the inclusion of new drummer Paul Contreras, they have solidified their lineup to work on a full-length album and play gigs along the way. They shared the stage with the likes of Skull Fist and Night Demon in San Bernardino and Fullerton in January 2015, and were the opening act at a free metal matinee show at Loaded Hollywood yesterday. Their first ever gig at this venue drew a good turnout even at 3 PM on a Sunday, and with the kind of performance they put forth, Novareign certainly made it worth the time and effort for those that cared to turn up.
Playing all four songs that comprise their demo EP, Novareign’s set was nothing short of supremely impressive, and there is no doubt that they delivered the highest number of notes anyone has ever done within a 30-minute span on this stage. But more importantly, Novareign’s showed that their musical style complements the shred with a healthy dosage of hooks and melody, as is evident from the prominence of catchy guitar harmonies and soaring clean vocals. In this day and age wherein metal is dominated by its extreme sub-genres in terms of popularity among the masses, it could definitely do with a new breed of clean-singing bands, and Novareign appear to have all the ingredients to carry the torch for years to come. Some of their members said they couldn’t hear much through the monitors on stage but their sound came through crystal clear from the audience’s perspective, perhaps a lot better than it did at the two Southern California venues they played last month. They held the audience’s attention even through such long compositions, through the sheer quality of the songwriting and the dynamism with which it was presented on stage.
Balmore Lemus and Danny Nobel ignited plenty of sparks on guitar, vocalist David Marquez showed great skill levels on his high-pitched clean vocals and won the crowd over with his strong stage presence, while the rhythm section of Mario Castro on bass and Paul Contreras on drums dictated the pace and played an important role. One hopes for the lineup to remain the same, because the world needs to witness the greatness of Novareign. A high-class exhibition of old-school progpower.
Novareign links: facebook | twitter | instagram | soundcloud