Local hard-rock band Revera played their new single “Waste of Fire” at B Street Bar in Edmonton, AB. Hayden Carkner/The Griff

The Edmonton-St. Albert-based band celebrated their release with a high-energy show in Edmonton’s Prince Rupert neighbourhood

Edmonton-St. Albert bred and MacEwan student-fronted hard rock band Revera released a new single, Waste of Fire, in October. The song is mixed by English record producer Chris Sheldon, who’s worked with the likes of Foo Fighters, Pixies, and Radiohead.

The song began, as many songs do: with a jam session. Despite already being well-versed in the grunge and “basement rock” genres, the band wanted to produce a track that was more polished, more professional, and immediately captured the attention of listeners. 

“Cash, our lead guitarist, came up with kind of like a funk-inspired riff, which we built on. And there’s a lot of elements of blues in there as well,” said lead vocalist Matteo Sicolo. “I would say that it just blossomed into this really fun, catchy, and powerful arena rock song.”

Sicolo, a MacEwan student studying human resources, co-founded Revera with his friend Tristan Fehr over three years ago. The pair met through a church youth group, and the group, rounded out by bandmates Caelan Alexander and Cassius “Cash” Devlin, have been putting  music out since 2023.

Sicolo got the phrase “waste of fire” from a book he read for a course he took at MacEwan: Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker, assigned in English 219, Intro to Speculative Fiction.

“I just found the words ‘waste of fire’ sounded really cool, and so, I just went, what does that mean to me? How can I apply this cool-sounding line to my life?”

Waste of Fire explores Sicolo’s experiences with different romantic partners and his desire to find someone who is worth his time, energy, and passion.

“‘Waste of fire’ to me means: I don’t want to pour out too much passion if the person that I’m pouring out for…I don’t want to insult them, but you know, isn’t going to be positive and beneficial in my life.”The release of the single was celebrated with a show at the B Street Bar in Edmonton. Avitas, another Edmonton-based alt-rock band, got things started before Revera took the stage and jumped immediately into a hard and fast cover of Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots Are Made For Walking, introducing a lineup of both original songs and covers performed in the band’s hard-rock style. The show featured a mix of originals and covers, with the new release serving as the centrepiece to an already electric show. The night ended with a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” a reminder of the funk and blues inspiration that Revera draws on for their unique sound.