Iya Terra – Sacred Sound
Track Listing:
1.) By My Side
2.) Love & Respect
3.) Gypsy Girl (featuring E.N Young)
4.) Anti-Establishment
5.) Movement
6.) Life Goes On (featuring The Simpkin Project)
7.) …A Livication
8.) Loving Design (featuring Jacob Iosia)
9.) More Love
10.) Humble Yourself
11.) Give Thanks (featuring Stick Figure)
The Pier Album Rating:
Release Date: March 24th, 2017
Record Label: Iya Terra/Sacred Sound Studios
Official Website: Iya Terra Website
Artist Background:
Based in Los Angeles, CA, the five-piece roots reggae breakthrough Iya Terra have quickly become a recognizable name with just four short years under their belt. The band has certainly expanded their musical landscape as made evident with the release of Sacred Sound -– as it would be taxing to silo them off as solely a roots reggae band. Go ahead and add some nice distorted guitar and reverb action to the mix as well as exploratory instrumentals spanning across multiple genres, and defining Iya Terra to one specific sound becomes much more difficult. Over the past couple of years they have had the ability to play some high visibility shows, including dates with Pepper, The Green, Stick Figure, Common Kings, Tomorrow’s Bad Seeds and many more. Iya Terra is comprised of lead vocalist and guitarist Nathan Feinstein, bassist Nick Loporchio, keyboardist Luis Tova, guitarist Nick Sefakis and drummer Blake Bartz.
Album Review:
Sacred Sound offers the listener a complete, cohesive musical experience from start to finish. In addition to their own unique and individualistic styles, the album also contains several special guests that listeners will surely recognize -– including E.N Young, The Simpkin Project, Jacob Iosia and Stick Figure. The album tells a tale that alludes to putting negative experiences to the side and leaving them in the past, moving ahead with a forward-thinking mentality, staying positive at all times – something we can all get behind!
The opening track “By My Side” sets the tone nicely for the rest of the album, with a brief intro of bending keys into a tasty distorted guitar riff to go along with dubby accents. Luis Tova and Nick Sefakis add more vocals for some harmonizing of the chorus and bridge of the track -– a great, attention-grabbing first song.
“Love & Respect” showcases more of their impressive instrumental work. Feinstein pivots to his stylistic reggae-rap vocals (which you will find occurs on several tracks throughout the record and is quite delightful to the ears and speakers); the track incorporates some sneaky keyboarding highlights along with a deep bass-line.
“Gyspy Girl” features E.N Young, and the track starts off with some solid melodica work very reminiscent of Tatanka’s hit track “Hear Me Now,” also featuring E.N Young. The song contributes more solid vocal work with additional deep bass and reverb/dub synths and exquisite keyboarding.
“Anti-Establishment” stands out as a highlight track, featuring Nathan Feinstein dialing back to the reggae-rap delivery for the chorus and into the duration of the track. The song starts out with tribal drumming and awakens immediately with steady flow from Feinstein. Go ahead and dance along/nod your head to that one, it’s pretty difficult not to.
“Live Goes On” features The Simpkin Project, and is definitely the “sit back and relax” jam of Sacred Sound. “…A Livication” picks up the tempo right after, immediately dialing back into a classic Iya Terra jam session.
The closing track, “Give Thanks,” which should also be in the best-song-on-the-album conversation — finishes the album in thematic style, opening with progressively light keys and melody to build into the addition of solid rhythmic drumming and added percussion. Feinstein adds his trademark vocals to the track coupled with harmonizing backing vocal work –- Scott Woodruff enters midway through the track to include the classic Stick Figure sound as an excellent addition to conclude the record.
Check your negative feelings and troubled times at the door –- fire up Sacred Sound and allow the 11 track standout to lift your spirits and fill you up with positive energy. The album bends in and out of rockers, bass-line jams, a couple of lighter tracks and overall reggae-centric vibes to give the album plenty to offer. Sacred Sound is more than worthy of your time and is an excellent album.
Written & Reviewed By: Brian Glaser
[Editors Note: All reviews are reflective of the album in it’s entirety, from start to finish. These reviews are the honest opinion of each writer/reviewer expressing their feedback as a genuine fan of the music. Each star rating reflects their review of the album, NOT the band. Music is subjective. Regardless of the review or star rating, we encourage you to listen to the music yourself & form your own opinion. Spread the awareness of all music in its art & contribution]
