Anaria – Between Loving and Dying | Progressive Rock Central.com

Anaria is a metal symphonic band from Boston, MA, USA, released their latest album, Between Loving and Dying, on November 22, of 2025.

Anaria is a modern rock/metal band hailing who synthesizes metal, modern rock, cinematic scoring, and pop arrangements into some superb symphonic metal music. Amassing over 10 million streams worldwide, the band produces all their own work, from audio, video, photo, costuming, and staging. Any production/direction credits belong to Producer/Engineer – Sergio Salvucci.

A quote from the band about the release: “This album was written during a time of grief for us. We watched friends, mothers, sisters, cousins, and our fur friends pass away in a very short time, we used this album as our catharsis. It takes you on a journey of feelings representing immense turmoil, anger, acceptance, and love.

Anaria is made up of members: Jessica Mercy, on vocals; Sergio Salvucci, on lead guitars and production; Dan Spinney, on rhythm guitars; Matt Frotten, on bass; and Jonathan Jena, on drums.

They have released three albums before Between Loving and Dying, including: Holding Cell – March 2024, Exile – 2020, and Chronicle – 2014, along with a boxload of singles and cover songs rich with music video support.

Between Loving and Dying opens with the powerhouse metal rocker, “Crave.” The song unleashes the powerful futuristic orchestration of which this album will be filled. Lead singer, Jessica Mercy sings vocal incantations along with the programming. Together they create a wonderful Middle Eastern sound and melody. The lead electric guitar playing is out of this world. The bass and drums are perfectly in rhythm with the soundscape. Jessica reminds me a little of Margarita Monet, of Edge of Paradise, only with more poise and experience. She uses less screaming, and a more controlled vocal delivery, which absolutely captures your ears and makes them stay with her vocal movements. She sings, “You pass through the bars. Of my prison cell. In search of a heaven. Inside of this well. I’m screaming in silence. I’m under your spell. I cannot escape from. Your eyes filled with hell. I can’t sleep, I can’t dream. I hate you. There’s a war going on inside of me. I crave you. Desire’s taking over me.” Like a trip back to Belle Morte’s “Exorcism,” only different.

“Chasing Shadows,” opens with orchestration and Jessica Mercy’s softer voice and vocalizations. A trip through a Star Wars – like journey. She sings, “I am the daughter of a dying universe. Every time I look behind, I glimpse a lengthening curse. I always thought it would never find me. But the wave keeps crashing in. A filtered darkness undulating. Reflecting back my every sin. Chasing shadows and lost in dreaming. Darkness follows, it’s so close behind me. Try to leave but like a cancer it stays. Clinging to me as I fade away.” A powerful song of trying to remain alive as your home begins to fade from reality. A great story filled with dreamy, spacey, guitar and programming effects. One of the best songs on the album.

“Spark of Life,” is like a tribute to Evanescence. The band even covered Amy’s dynamic powerhouse, “Bring Me to Life.” Only this song is rougher and more heavy metal. Not like Amy’s soft call for a return to the realm of the living. Jessica Mercy sings, “Making mistakes is all I seem to do these days. Living in fear, while the world is turning and reality slips away. The spark of life is calling from your eyes. My body’s caught in limbo. My soul has gone too far. Why can’t I travel backwards. Before I break apart. Break apart. Bring me back to life.” She even expresses her pain with a little growling, wanting so bad to keep from going over the edge of life, towards lifelessness.

“Between Loving & Dying,” the title song, is a beautiful mix of ballad and rocker. Jessica Mercy voice sounds almost like a pop singers, “Caught between worlds. And these infinite dreams. Bound to a form. Which cannot bring release. Aching to go where I know I can’t follow. Breaking the ground. While the sun is so low. Wait for me. Hold my breath. Hard to let go.” Those U2 – like solo guitar riffs are a wonderful memory. Another of the album’s best songs.

“Curtain Fall,” opens with cool programming and lead guitars, well supported with bass and pounding drums. Jessica Mercy sings with her dynamic ability to sound like a pop singer, “Tell me does it haunt you. Do you toss and turn at night. When you think about us. Does it tear you up inside. This is how I burn you. Tear the photos from the wall. Do you think about it. As I let the curtain fall.” A powerful conversation about how to treat people. Making sure everyone understands that both parties are hurt when emotions and feelings are given less consideration.

“Trigger,” is another powerful metal rocker. Great orchestration fills the soundscape as lead electric guitar and bass guitar lead an assault on the ears, with the drums making sure you remember this song. Jessica Mercy sings, “Inhale the poison. Heart thumping in my head. How can I follow. When my legs are like lead. Time stops—just a little while. I’m living on the edge. Severing memories. All screaming in my head. And this is what it feels like. Breaking from the inside. Explode into the skies. Directionless, I die. My worth determined by lies. Dying from the inside.” An absolutely powerful song both musically and lyrically. What is it that triggers you?

“Starshine,” opens with cool, spacey orchestration, drums, bass, and strong electric guitar riffs. Jessica Mercy sings, “Empty – I am the desert of the night. Tell me – How can I take this fight? Heal me – Say we’ve already won. Hold me – Summoning the sun. It’s so cold. Hold me in your arms. There’s a voice calling out through the cold mist. Through the wind and the ice and the forest. There’s a light reaching out from the darkness. Forever wishing I could understand. There’s a voice calling out from the wasteland. ‘Cross the dunes and the skies and the cold sand. Starshine, take my hand. I am lost!” Another of the best stories and songs on this album.

“Fly On the Wall,” opens with some of the cool orchestration that Producer/Engineer, and Lead Guitarist Sergio Salvucci has created throughout this album. Jessica Mercy sings, “Conversations echo in this hellscape. Little whispers from souls running blind. But you can’t see all your words flowing through me. You can’t see what you’ve left behind. You can’t see, no you can’t see me. You never–You never know. Who’s waiting for you to fall. Who’s watching like flies – on the wall.” A powerful song of wishing to be closer to someone but choosing to watch instead of interacting, maybe because of the fear of rejection.

“After Life,”opens with cool electric guitar, bass, and drums. Jessica Mercy sings in her pop – oriented vocals, “Moments linger like a creaking door. I see my ghost in moments I adore. The lights, they flicker through dimensions. Like the windows on a passing train. Tears fall like rain. Afterlife. I watch my blood run dry. And my spirit rise. I am learning this transcendence. To flee this vessel of reality. To conquer secrets, release the hold. Of fears that tether and shackle me. Now I’m set free!” What will it be like in the afterlife?” Jessica gives us a glimpse, “Turn my eyes toward heaven. Blinded and radiant. Drawn through the fog, ascending. I reach beyond my end!”

“Idol Worship,” opens with spacey programming, and then the pounding drums and lead electric guitars begin. Jessica Mercy sings, “Out of my body and into my mind. Falling away from this place and this time. Empty and cold and removed from my ties. Broken connections are floating inside. Fall to my knees as I worship the light. But it’s fading away as I sink past the line. A promised salvation dissolves in the night. Holding my breath on the edge of a knife. To you, I cling, an image of all I adore. To you, I sing, denying the pain I abhor. For you, I give all of the love I have left. You turn away, leaving a hole in my chest.” A powerful song of warning about the idea of worshiping anyone or anything.

“Piercing the Veil,” opens withJessica Mercy saying, “release yourself to the unknown.” Then, she continues, “We touch the darkness. With lingering hands, we’re open. We seek the presence. Of one who has crossed over. I am the noise inside your head. Forever screaming till you’re dead. Hello my friend, this is the end. This is what you are falling through. Piercing the veil comes without fail. Hunger will be the death of you. The candles flicker. Someone has joined the circle. A chilling whisper. Do you fear what you have summoned? I am the horror in your heart. Forever beating in your dark?” Be careful for what you seek in the Netherworld.

“Dark Devotion,” is full of eerie grinding electric guitar and a Nine Inch Nails – like soundscape. Jessica Mercy sings, “Demons inside my head. Screaming for their retribution. Inside my blood is boiling. Something’s building, something is calling. Show me your dark devotion. Chained to this raw emotion. Drink of this resurrection. Pray to your own reflection.” Wow, this band can definitely rock…for sure.

“Meteor,” opens with spacey keyboards, before the metal soundscape returns. Jessica Mercy sings, “When I look inside your thoughts. I can’t see beyond the walls you’ve built. Still I linger by the door. I know we’re victims of our borrowed guilt. Can you open up, Can I look inside. Can you let me share the hurt behind your eyes? Can you let me in, Can I heal your mind. Can we take the steps to leave the pain behind?” A song about building trust between individuals to allow the sharing of feelings and passed experiences.

“Stay (Cover),” is the UK band, Shakespears Sister’s song, covered well by Anaria. It opens with ethereal keyboards, before Jessica Mercy sings, “If this world is wearing thin. And you’re thinking of escape. I’ll go anywhere with you. Just wrap me up in chains. But if you try to go out alone. Don’t think I’ll understand. Stay with me. In the silence of your room. In the darkness of your dreams. You must only think of me. There can be no in-between. When your pride is on the floor. I’ll make you beg for more. Stay with me.” I do remember hearing this song when it was released in the early 1990s.

Yeah, go ahead and sign me up as a fan of Anaria’s Between Loving and Dying. This is a tremendous collection of deep and emotional songs that follow the powerful experiences the band members encountered while writing and making this album. There are songs which they wish to share with you, to help you understand some of the misfortunes and tragic experiences they passed through as a means of helping you cope with the same. There are some deep and powerful lyrics, experiences, and great music rapped Between Loving and Dying. A lot happens between these two experiences of life, and Anaria has captured it well.

Track List