Nonpareil

Photo Cred 📸: @zaairul

As we return to our regularly scheduled New Music Mondays for 2023, there is one last piece of 2022 that I want to cover. Nonpareil’s demo, is all the pieces of what makes emoviolence and screamo such comfortable bedfellows, and also further make clear that it’s time for everyone to take real notice of what is happening in countries like Malaysia and other southeast Asian nations where they’ve been making exceptional music for well over a decade.

Nonpareil are very no frills with their approach to the sound. On “Ever so somber, ever so quiet” they erupt into classically melodic riffs amongst heavier rattling guitar parts that are complimented by splashy and crisp drumming, all of which are blurring influences, swirling into a new and beautiful expulsion of cathartic emotional rage. “Hate the living, Love the dead” opens with delectably dissonant chords before a torrent of instrumentation bursts forth accompanied by shouted and screamed choruses of You are a ghost of your former self kicking into a massive wall of sound, harkening back to early Suis La Lune. Final track “Kian Hilang” (Is Disappearing) would feel right at home on an italian screamo comp, with twinkling punk parts a la Lantern and heavy yet melodic discordance delivered similarly to Raein. The song is sung entirely in Malay and this gives an even stronger emotional weight, with lyrics about the slow vanishing of everything and everyone around us, takes on a phonetic nuance that English cannot capture.

Nonpareil have made a standout debut effort all within the span of three songs, each barely hitting the four minute mark. It’s emotional and powerful, with plenty of heavy chaotic parts pieced together by its more tender moments. I would love to see how they’d handle a split or even a longer ep in the future because as always, we greatly look forward to what they have in store for us next.

Checkout their Bandcamp here: Nonpareil

Writer : @letsgetpivotal

Editor : @just_reidz

01/16/23