ONYRIA are an Alternative Rock / Post Grunge duo from France and "Feed The Monster" is their second album and is an independent release.

The album opens with "Denial" and there's an atmospheric echoey guitar intro before the vocals join in. The vocals are decent but there's an irritating 'warble' in Helena's voice which became annoying. The guitar crunches nicely though and the production is good.

There's a faster pace to "Living The Lie" which has a strong chorus and some good lyrics

"Can't you see you're just living a lie
Don't give up and just open your eyes
Can't you see you're just wasting your life
Don't bow down and stand up for your rights."

No surprise they've released it as a single.

In "No Obedience" there's a simple stop-start riff which has some great vocals. The chorus is again strong and apart from additional echoey vocals which detracted from the song, it's a good track.

"Drowning " and "Insane" both have again strong choruses where Helena's vocals work very well. The simple stop-start riff of the latter allows Helena's vocals to punctuate the song. There are some oos and ooh oohs which are a bit tiresome particularly as two previous songs had them in the song.

"Little Man" would be excellent if it wasn't for the twee chorus. There's some nice vocals in the verses over a sparse guitar and simple drum beat and lyrically it's about becoming stronger than an abuser (the "Little Man"). It's a powerful track for sure and there's fragility to Helena's voice which makes it compelling.

"Blind Nation" has a more urgent guitar riff to propel the song along though I was hoping for a solo part way through but it never arrived. It's certainly a more intense song and the lyrics don't mess about:

"Shut the fuck up
All what we have
Is the desert you left
Mistrust emptiness
The result of your greediness
Now feed on our hatred
Feed on our hatred
Feed on our hatred."

My favourite song on the album is "Still Here" with a minimalist guitar and a simple drum beat in the verse and again there's fragility to Helena's voice which soars in the chorus. A nice lead guitar rounds out the song.

"Price of Souls" ends the album in a heavier vein with a strong chorus and some nice Eastern-tinged guitar that slows the track down before the heavy chorus.

ONYRIA have certainly produced a decent album and there's some great tracks on the album though nothing that totally blew me away. There's some strong vocals and Helena has a decent voice if not an outstanding one. The guitar is fairly simplistic in structure but it carries the songs well. The album is well produced and ONYRIA are certainly a band to look out for.