Brazilian thrash metal band Nervosa are continuing to rise through the ranks, and Prika Amaral, who fronts the band with her relentless chugging, has had the same warhorse guitar every step of the way.
The band, currently supporting their sixth album, Slave Machine, have been a staple at many of the world's biggest metal festivals, and supported Cradle of Filth on tour last year.
Amaral’s electric guitar of choice is a Kramer Nite V. Not only does the pointy shred machine look the part, but it’s also able to withstand the rigors of touring and its owner's propulsive pick attack.
“Kramer is a big part of my guitar life,” she tells Guitar World. “I’ve spent 11 years working with Kramer, with the same model of guitar.
“Some Flying Vs fall because of the body balance. But when I started playing the Nite V, I fell in love, because the shape is very comfortable. The guitar is not falling down.”
Neck dive can be the bane of many guitarists’ lives, and with Flying Vs often sporting rather bulky bodies, it can be easy to fall foul of gravity’s grip. But it’s also built to last, she says.
“The guitar is very resistant. I did probably 40 tours with it, and I never had a problem with the neck or anything,” Amaral reports. “It’s very resistant, and it keeps the tuning insanely well.”
“We do a lot of traveling,” she adds – they played 79 shows last year, according to Setlist.fm, and have broken triple figures on three separate occasions. “When I take my guitar out of its case to play after traveling, it’s still in tune. It’s insane.
“It’s so resistant, and I love the shape because it’s modern but old-school at the same time. It’s my favorite guitar on the planet.”
The blend of vintage grit and modern precision is perfect for a band hellbent on modernizing thrash metal’s tropes while somehow making it even more punishing. It also typifies Kramer’s second coming as a brand.
With Eddie Van Halen, a fervent supporter of its builds throughout the ‘80s super shred era, Kramer guitars were hugely popular.
But by 1991, the firm was bankrupt as its fortunes took a dramatic nose dive (unlike the Nite V) with a lost lawsuit against Floyd Rose, one of the final pushes towards oblivion. Thankfully, Gibson acquired the brand six years later and has helped redefine the shred-happy axes for the modern era. Last year's Voltante Super Strat shows that with aplomb.
That said, if Paul Reed Smith had his way, Kramer could have been making his guitars, too…
Guitar World’s full interview with Nervosa will be published online in the near-future.
