Nathan “Aurora” Feinstein, the former frontman for Iya Terra, along with Iya Terra drummer Tanner Arebalo, guitarist Mike Mocerino and bassist Ray Worrick, released their first self-titled album August 2^nd via Ineffable Records. Nathan wanted something different in his music, something groundbreaking, with genre-defying soundscapes. A desire to push the limits of his own creativity and plunge into new musical spaces. I always said that Iya Terra was a reggae band that performed like a metal band on stage. Just loved photographing them.  Aurorawave is a reggae-metal band that blends reggae, metal, rock, and alternative styles, effortlessly. I was able to catch them a few months back while they were touring with K. Bong and Johnny Cosmic and The Movement, and WOW did they impress me with their high energy, amazing stage presence and showmanship.  Nathan has an amazing voice, such an amazing sound he belts out, that does work with different styles and genres of music, something you do not often see and hear. And the band, they are really awesome, such great talents. And together they put in the work for this new project, and it really works.

We start off Aurowave with “Meant to Be,” a nice reggae vibe and a perfect song to start off this new journey. Great lyrics to this song, explaining where his mindset and life is at; “I'm constantly growing and never knowing/The beauty is in the balance and I have been beholding/The truth is more potent when you can really own it/The wheels are in motion, are you staying or going now?” I am totally vibing to this song, I can’t wait to hear the rest of this album. The next song is the previously released “Inferno” featuring Atreyu. We get hit with an amazing, strong guitar to start this off, a heavy rock sound and beat, that keeps that energy with a reggae groove flowin’ through.  The chorus is awesome! Brandon Saller comes in with a nice metal flow, that works well with Nathan’s voice. Mike hits us with a great guitar solo! We move to one of my favorites, “Stratosphere,” a really sweet reggae song, Nathan’s voice really stands out to me in this one, sounds so good. I put this one on repeat a few times and just kept bobbin’ my head. They stick with the reggae flow with “Rise & Shine” featuring Layton Meacham, another one of my favorites. Great flow to this and once again Nathan hits us with great lyrics and vocals and when Layton comes in it keeps that vibe going, great vocals that hits so well in this song.

Another previously released song, “Boiling Point” is next up and features The Ghost Inside. This album is about his transition and growth and so much more, and each song has so much meaning. “Hear it nonstop and you can’t really block it out/Whatever goes up comes down/The words from their mouths slither out and they’re talking loud/I wanna burn it all to the ground right now/Everybody’s got something to say/You wanna talk shit, come say it to my face/Something’s gotta give before this breaks.” This is an alternative rock song with that bit of reggae flowing in the background, but then Jonathan Vigil comes in like a brick through a window and takes this song up a notch, no a lot of notches! The energy is crazy. I was surprised at the concert a few months back, the amount of people that knew the words to this and were singing along. “See You Around” is next up and he brings us back to a more reggae flow, but a different vibe than the others. It’s a song that so many people can relate to, “I don’t wanna live forever/I just wanna live right now/Time doesn’t wait for no one/So nothing’s gonna bring me down/I don’t wanna wait for too long/To see how it all plays out/If you’re not coming with me/I’ll see you around.” Another one of my favorites is up next featuring Carter from Surfer Girl, “Life.” As you can tell, I gravitate to the reggae songs, but that is not to say I don’t like the others, I love the way Nathan mixes it together. But this song has a great reggae vibe, more great lyrics and vocals from Nathan and Carter comes in so strong, his flow is awesome and takes this groove to another level, especially with his rap flow. We get an additional track, “(after)Life” a quick verse with Nathan singing over a little piano. And then, BAM, we are hit with “Kindness” which starts off with a strong metal guitar and moves to a reggae vibe, but then we get hit with that metal-reggae jamming.  Such strong guitar and bass hitting us. This is another one of my favorites, the way the metal, rock and reggae intertwine is amazing. You get a little bit of everything, so many emotions flowing around. First time listening to this album I was working out, a really hard, uphill bike ride with a lot of resistance, I admit I was hurting, thinking about giving up, and “Kindness” comes on in the headphones and wow, it got me pumped and kept me pushing! This song features Attila, and while I don’t love the screaming vocals, it does work well in this song.

We head back to a more reggae vibe with “Background Noise” featuring Satsang.  I really like this one as well, and Satsang has such a great flow that works great with Nathan’s vocals. Another song, that goes with the whole theme, that is so meaningful. “Careful what you wish for or me you will see/Believe me when I say that you don’t want it with me/The words that you say, reflection of your heart/Don’t be surprised if my light hits your dark/Fuck around and find out, I’ll stand and wait/Haters gonna hate while creators create.” “No Love Lost” is next up, much more of that rock feel, drum hitting hard, but then the chorus comes in with that reggae vibe. I just love the way he brings these gernes together, it just works! And again, the lyrics are just so powerful and meaningful. They tell a story for Nathan but songs that everyone can relate to. We move onto “Trust & Believe” with that reggae flow, we get some horns in this one, and love how they complete this song, and the sax solo is fantastic. As we move through this album, I swear we see growth in Auroawave as a group. The album is finished off with a nice slower groove, “Expectations.” This is such a perfect song to finish this journey off with. It sums it all up and is another great song to chill to. The lyrics are so powerful! “I’ll tell you a little something that I know, People change and people grow/The past of me’s unraveling, I’m happy to let it go/Half of me is here to stay/Half of me is going away/But all of me feels all these things/I’m constantly amazed, I wanna know/Do I fit the mold that you’ve made up in your head?/Am I living up to expectations?/And do the words I say align with your narrative?/I cannot live up to your expectations.”

How would I explain Auroawave to someone that hasn’t heard them before, I would say they are high octane reggae or reggae on steroids. But I’d have to mention that the octane comes from the rock and metal added in and mixed throughout each song. I was very curious how I would like this album, Iya Terra has been one of my favorite American reggae groups, and I knew this would have that rock/metal style added in (and I am not a metal fan, I am a reggae, hip hop and R&B fan). Well, I can say this album works so well, I love this album, this journey Nathan has taken us on is fantastic. The way the genres compliment each other and intertwine is amazing, I think they pulled off a great thing here. Reggae fans will love this, rock fans will love this and even metal fans will groove to this. I love how this all came together and can’t wait to see where Nathan and Auroawave take us next.

One Love – Todd Judd