A couple of months ago I became aware of an amazing band from Eastern Europe – Croatia, to be exact.The bands name is Effa Tha – which is based on Mark 7:34 – “Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’
Sometimes when you hear a new band, you need to have a couple of listens to really “get” the music and to have the lyrics or the melody firmly in your head. I have to confess that this band hit me right away the first time I heard them. After listening to four or five of their songs, I decided that this was one of my favourite bands and are an amazing addition to the CatholicMetal family. Musically, I enjoyed their music from the first chorus of almost all of their songs; lyrically, this band sings their songs in their native Croatian language – but despite my lack of Croatian – you cannot doubt the authenticity and the power of the Holy spirit as Marin (the lead singer) sings about the darkness surrounding our lives and how the light of Christ and the Power of the Holy Spirit are our saving grace in this world.
YOUR WORD IS LOVE
WHEN A MAN IS BORN
HE’S FRAGILE AND WEAK
BUT WHEN HE LEAVES,
IS HE TURNING INTO DUST?THEN IN THE MOMENT OF DEATH
FLASHES OF THE PAST LIFE
COME BEFORE HIS EYESBUT I KNOW THAT GUILT
IS NOT ALL THAT REMAINS
CHRIST’S HOLY SACRIFICE
REDEEMED ALL OUR SINSAND IF ONLY LOVE KNOWS NO DEATH
I CAN SAY ONLY THIS:
CHRIST, I LOVE YOU!BECAUSE YOU ARE MY SHEPHERD
YOUR WORD IS EVERYTHING TO ME
HOLY HOST
MY STRENGTH – MY TRUTH
YOU ARE MY SHEPHERD
MY LORD AND MY GOD
YOUR BLOOD AND YOUR WOUNDS
ARE MY SHELTERAND I FEAR NO MORE
I LISTEN TO YOUR VOICE:
THE HOLY SPIRIT
IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURE
I SEE THE GRACE OF SALVATIONAND I BELIEVE IN LOVE
‘CAUSE LOVE IS A GIFT FROM YOU
THE TREASURE OF MY SOUL
FOR THE BEGINNING OF ETERNITYBECAUSE YOU ARE MY SHEPHERD
YOUR WORD IS EVERYTHING TO ME
HOLY HOST
MY STRENGTH – MY TRUTH
YOU ARE MY SHEPHERD
MY LORD AND MY GOD
YOUR BLOOD AND YOUR WOUNDS
ARE MY SHELTER
This recording is very professional – and it would be difficult for me to find anything that could be improved! The song’s arrangement, performance and mix are great – it would have been cool to have the bass pumped up a little more, – but I think I feel that way about a lot of the music I listen to or write aboutin a review. This song (like many of the songs that this great band have released) is what I would call “epic” – this is a little hard to explain – you need to listen to this song to understand what I mean. But I think an “epic” song is a song that has an excellent structure. This song has that – it has a definite verse and chorus structure and the guitar solos are short bursts of perfection that do not get in the way of the song. Another “epic” quality that this song has is the state of the chorus – the chorus is metal – but it’s also a great “hook.” I can’t song Croatian, but I found myself readily able to recall the melody from the chorus; with the English translation, I was able to sing along with the English words. In my view, this could only happen with a well-written song. The drums are massive in this song and Gordan (drummer) gives a great performance on the recording of this song. He is an amazing drummer live as well (the band has some great live footage on their myspace site – the link is below). This band is rounded out with Karlo on guitar, Elvis on bass and Fran on keyboards. The bass and guitar work are very well arranged and are perfectly balanced with the keys. The keyboard arrangement in the chorus is also very effective to get across the mood of this song – “your word is everything to me….your blood and your wounds are my shelter.”
Even though I’m using a translation, I can’t help but comment on the words to this song. Often in the lyrics that we write as Catholic metal musicians, we describe a perspective on an immportant issue and try to reveal the power of God’s love and the role of our love of Christ to help save us and our world. We can do this by reflecting on current events, social justice issues, Biblical passages and personal experiences. Many of the bands that we have reviewed have done this and done this very well. Marin does something a little different here- the chorus is an amazing prayer. Read it and consider it not as a lyric but as a prayer – it actually works. If you can agree with me on this point, take a look at the rest of the lyrics in a structural approach. The first verse talks about “a man” – it is written in the third person and there is a bit of detatchment in the “voice” of the song. Out of this observation, there is a personal reflection, “but I know that guilt is not all that remains…I can say only this: Christ I love you!” This reflection gives way to the prayer in the chorus. The second verse shows a realization of the universal truth of Christ’s love and the ability of that love to bridge time “…the beginning of eternity.”
Effa Tha is a great member of our CatholicMetal community and you can get more information about them (music, videos, pictures, etc.) at http://www.myspace.com/effathari.
