Nothing I love more than new music being released (obviously) and though I thoroughly enjoy hearing music coming from the well-loved bands and the absolute euphoric artists that break the ceilings of music, I also enjoy hearing music of literal NEW bands that are still in the genesis stage of their music careers and that is what we have with two young and inspired bands that have recently released their debut album and EP. So – who are they?
I asked both bands to tell me about themselves and this is what we got back:
“Benthic Eels are from San Diego, California, USA. The band consists of our vocalist Jackson Colpitts, drummer Mitchell Wenham, bassist Jake Elser, and guitarist Thomas Lightbody. Initially the band started as two piece where Thomas was on guitar and our bassist was our drummer, but we made changes during the summer of 2023 and added Mitchell and Jackson to our roster and started the official lineup. While the easiest label for us is alternative rock/metal, we are trying to engage in multiple genres such as shoegaze, psychedelic, progressive, grunge, and even with some elements of jazz and blues. Plans as of 2025 are to work on new material , to play some shows towards the middle and end of 2025,and record a full length album to release sometime within 2026.”
“Initially formed in late 2021, by Pedro Ferreira, Laveya is a four-piece thrash metal band from Orlando, Florida. After years of evolution, the band settled on its first full lineup in summer 2024, consisting of Pedro Ferreira (guitar and vocals), Ethan Silva (guitar), Leo Toledo (bass) and Valentino Terry (drums). With a sound powered by technical and heavy riffs, Laveya officially burst into the metal scene with their debut EP ‘Bad,’ released on March 10th, 2025.” From the band specifically I was told Laveya has a vast range of influences ranging from hip hop, to indie, to the more obvious thrash OGs like Megadeth and Slayer.
And once again folks, I will but my small disclaimer: the following are my opinions and take-a-ways and in no way am I trying to pretend to be an expert in the genres, of the band, or anything of that nature. Just simply a girl who enjoys the chugs and riffs, death growls, screams, some clean vocals here and there and just raw emotion being portrayed through my favorite genre of music. I also am not going to sit here and use words I found as synonyms for the real words I originally used to make me seem smarter, more elegant or anything of that nature. You get what you get – so let’s get into this.
Zona by Benthic Eels is a short EP composed of five songs, that are all decent lengths. Their band camp says the following: “Recorded in a humble shack in Arizona provided by the Hoffmeister Kink himself, Benthic Eels swam on land to record their demo tapes to show that while you can teach an old dog new tricks, you cannot keep a good eel down.” I love this little blurb for description of their album.
Zona starts off with Stayaway. Stayaway gave me major The Doors vibes – and mind you this is my first impression of Benthic Eels so I was not sure what to expect but I really am getting a little old-timey vibe from them. I think it would fit very well within the psychedelic era of music because I honestly could see it going one of two ways listening to this song while on a little…. trip…. either rocking out or kind of just mesmerized by the sounds staring into an abyss.
Next track listed in their EP is Days on Daze. I am not really a big fan on spoken words over instrumentals so this is not my favorite but the instrumentals broken down are actually quite nice and once again is giving psychedelic rock vibes as well. I feel like this has so much potential.
The middle track we listen to is True Nature, a short track compared to the rest of them but its very thrash level vibed. I feel like this song is one of the good ones on the drop due to the arractic nature and heavier break downs. It honestly is a good little song and I think this is a really good trajectory for their sound.
Child Erased Is the best one on the album in my opinion. There is a good instrumental backing, the lyrics are catchy and the singing is more musically than the normal groove you get from these songs. I think this would be a great song to start promoting the band more on platforms like spotify and apple music.
Finishing off the bands EP is The Castaways. I think the lyrics are a bit surface level and the song itself could use a little refinement but its a groovy song. I think the overall vibe of the song fits with the rest of the EP with a very thrash/grunge/psychedelic genres. I can’t help myself from comparing them to a path that would align with a love child between King Gizzard the Lizard Wizard and Tame Impala.
I think Benthic Eels is on a good path for their career and this was a good start of their career. With a bit of refinement, and maybe better production equipment they have potential to do really well in their growth as artists. I think the harshness of the shouts within the vocals make them who they are and their sound is refreshing in the way that most bands are trying to sound like the modern day big bands so it is nice to hear a band grooving to the sounds that resemble the little oldies.
You can find Benthic Eels and Zona on Band Camp or follow the link below:
https://benthiceels.bandcamp.com/album/zona
Let’s get into Laveya! these kids are literal kids! Which is so cool but also crazy to me. The composition alone of producing a smaller album while in high school is so impressive to me. Benthic Eels and Laveya are very similar in sound so it makes sense to do these together (in my mind). Laveya’s album is titled Bad and I think it’s the opposite of that.
Starting off with Make You Suffer. This is a well executed instrumental song with a small little punch at the end. The lyrics read thrash band in the making and I think there’s room for growth for the lyrics side but when you’re 16-19 years old composing music, there has got to be some grace given.
Next track on the album is Bad. Okay let’s be real here, the guy on the guitar actually kind of shreds? I was not expecting the instrumentals to go as hard as they did on this song. I think I will continue to be surprised by the instrumentals in these songs because I genuinely am impressed with this. I honestly found myself singing to the song before it was even over, and this is my first play through so I do not know the lyrics by any means.
Progressing along with Brutal Honesty the mid album track is venturing the lines more into the thrash realm here, I believe. This song shows the influences the band identified in their about me section. I get the concept they are trying to do with the vocals but I can’t help but think about Less Than Jake when listening to this band – and I honestly don’t think this band has any type of ska influence but my brain just keeps thinking about it. But hey Laveya – if you want to throw a trumpet or something in one of your next songs I don’t think I would hate it.
Next track on Bad is Pain. The shortest song on the album but it is still a pretty substantial song. This song could be recorded better so I feel like the vocals are slightly laid quieter than they deserved to be within the track. Which, for high school kids I think whoever they collaborated with, if anyone, did a great job composing this entire album because it really does flow well. I’m gonna say it again y’all – the instrumentals, especially the guitar, just make this song groovy.
Last track and this was a fun listen everyone. I really enjoyed the opening of their finale of the album, Time of Death. I think this song had better lyrical composition and the actual lyrics were relatable and understandable. So honestly what more could be asked for this song? Ill keep it short and sweet – this was a good song for them to include on their album and produce.
I also think Laveya has room for growth and refinement but you know what? They’re work paid off well. I hope they keep making music, collaborate with professional audio production in a higher level and work on the bumps that came out within their debut album because if Alien Weaponry and Baby Metal can make it when they started as kids, why can’t Laveya?
You can listen to Laveya below either through Spotify or Bandcamp.
https://laveyafl.bandcamp.com/album/bad
So, that wraps up another review post. I want to express gratitude to Benthic Eels and Laveya for allowing me to review their music, their patience while I was on vacation and trying to complete this review. Thanks for hangin’ folks!
Her Metal Manifesto 
Leave a comment