The very first gig I attended on behalf of muzic.net.nz a little over two years ago was to see Coridian, who were supported that night by Outside In. While I knew the proggers as I had written the press release for their debut ‘Karmatrain’, I had no idea who Coridian were at all. I have lost count of how many times I have seen them play since then as the Raven brothers kick up a mighty storm, and then at the front is Dity Maharaj who surely is one of the finest singers in the business with a great range and fantastic presence. I have also seen them play twice as support to the mighty Written By Wolves, and here we find a coming together of great minds.

It starts with layered riffing guitars from Mike, Kris hits the kit, and then he and Nick link in, in a way which can only happen when musicians have been playing together all their lives. They are soon moving the music in a different direction and then Dity is on over the top with his clear sound, high and with passion and breadth. All the time Nick is providing strong melodic lines on the bass as Mike moves up and down the neck, creating high sounds which seem to have nothing to do with the main theme but consistently building on it, while Kris continues to play around the kit, keeping it tight yet also adding additional touches. There is a lot of contrast taking place, and already within the first verse there is the feeling of something special as the band are already lifting and changing the mood.

I play material without reading the press release first, and when the second verse started, I was immediately stunned as there was no doubt that Dity have moved to one side and we had none other than Mikey Murphy now at the vocal controls. I knew they were close mates, and Coridian did of course appear on the WBW video for “No!” but had no idea they had collaborated on this. Mikey starts clear and clean, then starts to put in the edge as he rises up the scale, with Dity joining forces for the chorus. Musically it all slowed down after the second chorus, with everyone taking it slow, but it is obvious we are in the eye of the storm, and that something special is soon to happen and then the build starts, slowly, oh so slowly. Suddenly Mike is riffing the guitar really hard, Dity was clear and clean at the front with passion and Mikey was blasting out his harsh vocals as only he can, Nick and Kris were pumping it along and then it stopped. Just like that! WBW are headlining a big event in Auckland in a few months, with Coridian one of the support acts, and I somehow believe that will be the first time we get to hear this one played live. There is no doubt I am looking forward to that, as well as to Coridian’s new album ‘Hava’ which is due out later this year. The video for this one is fun as well, check it out.
10/10 Kev Rowland