She’s one of modern metal’s top shredders, she’s toured the world with the Godfather of shock rock, Alice Cooper, one of pop music’s most legendary artists, Demi Lovato, as a solo artist, and she has so far released one critically acclaimed solo album… but that’s about to change with her soon-to-be-released sophomore album The Call Of The Void. Unlike her debut, the all-instrumental Controlled Chaos, this album includes primarily mainstream rock and metal songs featuring a motley crew of heavy metal’s finest voices. But it wouldn’t be a Nita Strauss album without a few hard and shreddy instrumentals, would it?
Strauss’s new album opens with the sounds of rain, a thunderstorm, a Summer Storm. As rain falls and thunder rumbles, clean guitar comes in playing through chords. The song continues to build as Strauss takes a melodic solo over the clean chords, before, unsurprisingly, the song goes totally metal. One of the few instrumental songs on the album, Summer Storm makes up for the lack of vocals with fast double bass, face-melting shredding, as well as melodic portions. Strauss plays with dynamics very well on this track, keeping the listener engaged through the duration.
Coming right out of the gate at 110% is The Wolf You Feed. After a dive bomb from the guitar, we get a guttural scream from Arch Enemy’s Alissa White Gluz. The song showcases Alissa’s clean vocals as well as her screaming vocals very well. The Wolf You Feed was released back in late October 2022 as a single, alongside a music video.
Next up is a very mainstream-style metal song, Digital Bullets. The track features Motionless In White’s iconic frontman, Chris Motionless on vocals. It opens with piano and digital effects before kicking into the main riff. The song tackles the subject of so-called keyboard warriors who will say anything to anyone online without having to say it face to face. “Make your own noise” sings Lzzy Hale of Halestorm on this next track. The production and engineering on this song is amazing with panning audio, whispered vocals, etc. Consume The Fire is the album’s second instrumental song. With an epic, adventure feel to it, the tune balances shred and melodic guitar playing, something Nita Strauss has learned to do tremendously well.
Dead Inside was the first single released from The Call Of The Void, way back in October 2021. The song’s music video has surpassed 4 million views on Youtube over the past year and a half, though that isn’t even the most impressive feat for Dead Inside. With this release, the track is the first released by a female solo artist to go #1 on rock radio. On vocals for this track is David Draiman of legendary nu-metal outfit, Disturbed.
Victorious is one of the most singable songs from The Call Of The Void. One of modern rock’s most beloved female vocalists, Dorothy, joins one of modern’s rock’s most beloved female shredders, Nita Strauss, to create this anthemic, empowering track. Listening to this song brings a vision of a packed arena singing the chorus loud and clear and the band plays with all their might.
Police sirens echo as the album’s third instrumental track begins. Scorched is one of the slower, more melodic songs featured on The Call Of The Void, but it finds its home perfectly, halfway through the album. Following it is another instrumental track, Momentum. After the more slow and melodic Scorched, Momentum comes out of the gate with fast double bass paired with masterful guitar runs. If there’s one thing Strauss does best, it’s her ability to create an atmosphere. With the help of producer Kile Odell, the entire album has so many layers which creates a depth that many artists lack.
Something you may not have known about Nita Strauss is that growing up, Swedish death metal band, In Flames, were her Beatles. They were her first ever favorite band. Her latest single and video from The Call Of The Void features the band’s vocalist Ander Friden. The Golden Trail showcases Strauss’s heavier, darker side. Both Friden and Strauss described being part of the project as an ‘absolute honor’. One of hard rock’s most infamous frontmen, Alice Cooper, is featured on Winner Takes All. The Call Of The Void really pushes these guest vocalists out of their typical sound and style, making for a truly unique listening experience. The Coop brings his signature vocal style to a heavier metal song that he wouldn’t ever have otherwise released.
The final guest vocalist featured on The Call Of The Void, the one created from filth and dust, Lilith Czar. A labelmate of Strauss, Czar begs the question ‘is it love, is it hate?’ on the track Monster. ‘Sometimes they feel the same,’ Czar sings. Monster is an aggressive, dirty rock song that the active rock scene has been fiending for. The album closes out with two instrumental tracks, Kintsugi and Surfacing. Kintsugi is the slowest, most calm track on The Call Of The Void. It leads into the slow intro of Surfacing, which features ex-Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman. Surfacing picks up and features intense guitar harmonies and trading of solos.
Overall, The Call Of The Void embodies a new era for Nita Strauss. She’s conquered the instrumental shred game and now she has successfully tackled the mainstream hard rock and heavy metal genres.
