Reborn through death and thrash: Nervosa live at On The Rocks, Helsinki 12.04.

The world was a very different place the last time Nervosa performed in Finland. From that February 2020 onwards, a worldwide pandemic, a new album in the band’s discography and some line-up changes sum up the events of these last three years.

Back to April 12th of 2023, Helsinki was chosen to be the last of six dates on the Nordic tour, which also marked the debut of this new moment for the Brazilian/European band. On The Rocks is a well-known venue in Finland and a good number of fans went to the venue to check out the quartet.

The new Nervosa brings guitarist Prika Amaral taking over the vocals, while Helena Kotina became the second guitarist (she played bass on the previous tour), new bassist Hel Pyre temporarily replaces Mia Wallace, and Michaela Naydenova is the new drummer. A renewed lineup that has already released a new song from the upcoming album, that will be released later this year via Napalm Records.

After the opening of the Finnish band Satan’s Fall, performing a good old classic/power metal, Nervosa entered the stage playing one of the singles of the last work, “Perpetual Chaos”. Prika has a good voice, which impresses with its quality. The whole band sounds good live, although we couldn’t hear clearly the drummer Michaela in the beginning. The consistent vocals continue on “Kings of Domination” and the two guitars show good chemistry on “Genocidal Command”.

During the night, Prika’s joy in perceiving the audience’s support is visible and she is constantly grateful for everyone’s support through her speeches between songs. Another funny moment of the night is when a Brazilian in the audience greets Prika and the vocalist announces the next song in Portuguese by mistake, joking that the fan has entered her mind, as she quickly switches back to English, laughing about it.

In “Death”, the vocalist also shows that she remains the main guitarist, with a beautiful solo. Naydenova brings a very intense sound throughout this performance. In “People of the Abyss”, we can see that Prika’s vocals have their own identity, not sounding like the work that Diva Satanica did on the last record. Another important point is to see how two guitars manage to make the performance much better with details that were only audible in the studio version.

When the singer announced “Kill The Silence”, which is an ode to women, the audience reacted positively. Another precise solo from the vocalist. “Time to Fight” and “Rebel Soul” have different moments. An interesting solo by Helena between the songs, a discreet but efficient bass by Hel and Michaela “emulating” a locomotive, such is her precision. In some passages it is possible to see Prika having a little difficulty to breathe and sing at the same time, which is understandable, since she hasn’t sang shows in a row for many years. Nothing that would have ruined the live experience.

If in “Venomous” the fast guitars dictate the rhythm, while Prika gives her best in the vocals, it is in “Into Moshpit” that things become a little calmer, despite the aggressiveness of the song. It is also possible to witness a friendly moshpit going on. Michaela’s concentration is mesmerizing on “Guided by Evil”, which also had a beautiful solo by Kotina.

The night moves towards the end with “Endless Ambition”. The first new song released a few weeks ago, was composed by the current lineup. They all feel comfortable and everything sounds great. This new phase of Nervosa has a promising future ahead, with Endless being a nice appetizer of the next album.

The last song of the night is “Under Ruins”, also present in 2021’s Perpetual Chaos. Cadence, groove and a band that shows smiles and sweat as they say goodbye while doing what they love.

We don’t know what the future of Nervosa will be like, but for now the fans are still embracing the band with affection and enthusiasm. As Prika said, they are alive and ready to do their best, so we will still see Nervosa rocking the world with their talent and incredible musicians.