Single Review: You

Newzerror is a new two-piece band hailing from a small town in Aotearoa New Zealand called Matamata. Anything but small, Rick and Dee’s sound on their debut single You smashes through the ceiling with some straight forward no-nonsense metal sure to get you up and moshing.

Front person Dee delivers a particularly compelling performance with her airy, almost spooky, vocals. The ethereal magical feel blends perfectly with the music and her octave above backing vocals nicely accentuate the main lyrics. The frequencies and inflections she attains are only achievable through exceptionally powerful and practiced singing.

Rick, a former drummer for Hamilton rock bands 8Forty8 and Medusa Glare, lays down the compelling backbone for this foundational release. Drums don’t deviate much from a solid four on the floor throughout the track and the unwavering rhythm guitar, with its polished Metallica feel, helps produce a style that sits appositely between old school and industrial metal genres.

Somehow creating musical space while entirely filling up the void, Newzerror’s debut single achieves that wall of sound all good metal bands must strive for. Much of this pleasing aural experience is accomplished through engineer Scott Seabright’s perfect mix, which allows the vocals to take centre stage while also letting every nuance of the instruments shine through.

Newzerror is definitely a band you should keep an eye on.