Wall Of Sound Presents: “2024 YEAR IN REVIEW” by Reliqa’s Monique Pym
Having witnessed the Rise of Reliqa first-hand, it’s incredible to watch this new and emerging outfit go from strength to strength with each and every year that passes. 2024 was a special one for the foursome who dropped their debut album Secrets of the Future, announced a signing to Greyscale and Nuclear Blast Records and proceeded to cross off multiple goals form their band bucket list in a short period of time.
As things heat up for the alt/prog/metal/core kids, we’re looking back at the year that was with frontwoman Monique Pym and her #WoSYearInReview…
TOP 5 RELEASES OF 2024?
5 – Northlane – Mirror’s Edge
4 – Halsey – The Great Impersonator
3 – Twenty One Pilots – Clancy
2 – Linkin Park – From Zero
1 – Bring Me The Horizon – Post Human: Next Gen
TOP 5 SONGS OF 2024?
I intentionally didn’t choose any songs from my AOTY list above. Way too much good music this year to do that!
5 – Stand Atlantic – ‘Nose Bleed’
4 – Windwaker – ‘The Wall’
3 – Make Them Suffer – ‘Epitaph’
2 – Void of Vision – ‘Gamma Knife’
1 – Electric Callboy x BABYMETAL – ‘RATATA’
Honourable mention for the most hype non-heavy single of the year Chase & Status x Stormzy – ‘Backbone’
WHICH AUSTRALIAN BAND DO YOU HAVE ON REPEAT?
Void of Vision and Make Them Suffer have been in constant rotation this year, the former even more so now that they’re sadly calling it a day. I’ve also fallen head over heels in love with Voyager again. Even though they didn’t release any new music this year, their 2023 album Fearless In Love has only just recently become a staple for me.
BEST GIG YOU PLAYED THIS YEAR AND WHY?
Honestly, the Melbourne show we just played with Periphery a few weeks ago was so sick. We’ve had some phenomenal shows this year, but performing alongside a band that has inspired basically our entire catalogue was pretty damn special. Great guys to tour with too!
Although, I AM writing this while gearing up for Good Things Festival, so my answer to this question could be different in a week
Photo Gallery by Clinton Hatfield @ampd.agency
TELL US ABOUT A SURREAL CAREER HIGHLIGHT YOU HAD IN 2024
A few weeks after dropping our album Secrets of the Future, we went out on our first headline tour, and I am still buzzing over it. We came so close to scoring a fully sold-out run, which is more than we could’ve asked for. Every room was packed, including The Brightside where we’d opened a 4-band bill just 2 years earlier. And on a Thursday night no less! While we’ve still got plenty more headliners to do before we’re cruising through them, the success of those shows was so affirming in so many ways.
WHAT WAS THE RECEPTION LIKE FOR YOUR NEW MATERIAL?
We’re really happy. It’s been so humbling to watch people find and latch onto the things they love about this album. Reliqa is not exactly the easiest band to define genre-wise, so naturally it can take some people a bit of time to identify what it is they like about our music, but I think that’s the whole point of this record. We’ve tailored it to include a little something for everyone’s tastes, and we’re feeling a lot of appreciation and respect for that.
Our community has grown a lot since releasing ‘Terminal‘ and announcing the labels (over 9 months ago now
), and this campaign overall has put us in a much more professional, career-worthy place than we were 12 months ago which is very exciting.
ANY SNEAK PEEKS OF INBOUND PLANS NEXT YEAR?
Lucky for you, one of the learning curves we went through during the making of SOTF was becoming faster writers! We’ve got a few things up our sleeves and will be ready to strike when the iron’s at its hottest.
Might f around and give fans at Good Things a taste of what’s cooking. Be there!
BEST ADVICE GOING INTO 2025?
Easier said than done, but… trust the process
Written by Monique Pym @moniquepym
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(and see them at Good Things Fest, or else!)
