Paaris – Valhalla EP

The quarantine and isolation caused by the global pandemic spawn hordes of outstanding solo artists who’re shapeshifting the contemporary music scene. No matter which music genres we’re talking about, there are loads of artists who just waited for a perfect moment to unleash their talent. From indie rock to progressive metal, you will come across pieces of artistry that unquestionably deserve the attention of the broader auditorium. Enrique Marquez Paris is one of those artists who took advantage of these troubling times and focused his spare time to work on something creative. The effort undoubtfully paid off through Valhalla, a tremendous extended play that spans over several music genres. Since April of 2020, he released series of singles such as Nora, Luna, and Polaris. Paaris heavily promoted his upcoming material over social media platforms, and Polaris finally ended up as a part of the Valhalla EP.

Valhalla consists of five technically demanding progressive metal compositions that will be right up the alley for all the admirers of thoroughly detailed music. Nevertheless, Paaris doesn’t stop there and pushes his abilities to the very limits by combining several complementary genres into his music. Besides progressive metal, you may stumble upon ingredients such as progressive rock, post-rock, hard rock, heavy metal, cinematic ambient metal, djent, and many other similar genres. The way Paaris combines all these elements go beyond comprehension at some point, and I am positively sure the fans of cleverly assembled instrumental music will appreciate his effort to the max. Perhaps some listeners will find that these numbers lack some lyrics along the way, but the material is fully stacked with brilliant ideas and outstanding musicianship, so the lyric element would be too much over the top.

Enrique Marquez Paris invests all of his talents, ideas, and impressive musicianship into this material. You’ll be blown away by his solos, arpeggios, riffs, melodies, harmonies, shreds, and other guitar virtuosities implemented in this extended play. Robust downtuned slabs of riffs are fully supporting the beforementioned maneuvers and acrobatics, while the rhythm section provides all the necessary support. There are also profoundly melodic sequences, ambiances, and drones involved in these compositions. Each one of these segments highlights the guitar virtuosities even more. Paaris has done incredible work with Valhalla and you’ll be positively surprised by the number of ideas invested in this material. Besides Enrique Marquez Paris, you may hear guest performances of great contributors and renowned names from the rock, metal, and progressive scene, such as Anup Sastry (Intervals, Monuments, Marty Friedman), Joey Izzo (Arch Echo), Rodner Padilla (C4 Trio), Jason Kui, and Sophie Burrell. Valhalla is available on digital platforms such as Spotify, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, and YouTube.