Sweat hangs heavy in the humid night air when the first distortion pedal clicks open and everything in the room suddenly vibrates. On their explosive single Hold on, Cagayan de Oro quintet NOOZA channel pure ’90s grunge catharsis while breathing fresh life into modern alternative rock. Khalil sings with a throaty desperate sincerity that grabs you by the collar right away and he does not let go until the final cymbal crash fades into static.
Olrak locks into a thick bass groove alongside Kyrie who hammers the kit with the furious restraint of classic Seattle rock gods. Guitars courtesy of Marvyn and Ylnas layer heavy fuzzy riffing over ringing chord progressions so the whole arrangement swells with emotional urgency. When Khalil croons “You don’t have to get it right, if it’s falling let it fall” the track transforms from a simple headbanger into a massive lifeboat for anyone drowning in their own head.
This is real, unfiltered rock music made by five people bleeding into their instruments in the southern Philippines.
The emotional peak arrives around the two minute mark as the twin guitars tear open a soaring solo that feels like sunbeams cutting through storm clouds. Khalil belts out “Don’t go don’t slip away, even when it’s hard to stay” with a raw rasp that evokes classic vocalists like Chris Cornell from Soundgarden or Daniel Johns of Silverchair. You can hear the physical exertion in every phrase and that raw honesty gives the song an intoxicating pull.
By the time the final chorus explodes into a wall of thunderous noise NOOZA prove that heavy guitars still possess the unique power to heal broken spirits. Hold on acts as both a shelter and a battle cry for the weary and it marks NOOZA as one of the most exciting rock acts emerging from the Southeast Asian underground today. Put this on repeat whenever the world gets too heavy and let the feedback wash the dust away.
