Tag: vola

This is the band’s follow up to the incredible Inmazes, which is a genre defining album for me. On this release the band are expanding the vibes and grooves of the first album, but the melodies are more of a focus this time around and we are definitely in prog country.

We Are Thin Air is a superb opening with such a great groove, and the melody is just sublime. Ghosts takes this even further and the vocal sounds almost ethereal, which is in keeping with the title. The opening groovefest to Smartfreind is just nuts and that riff when it kicks in!!! This song  sound so evil compared to Ghosts. Ruby Pool is a complete contrast and sounds like a backtrack to some Japanese anime; a very serene piece. Alien Shivers has a short electronic intro before they bring the heavy low end grooves, which gives way to a ghostly vocal. I adore Vertigo with a fragile vocal, atmospheric keys, and picked guitar its a goosebumps piece that gets me every time. Still has a really cool opening with just voice and heavy choppy riff. This song feels as though it should be a soundtrack to some sci-fi movie. The title track follows with a very busy riff that gives way to a beautiful vocal melody, of which the odd groove builds over the top. Whaler is the second very heavy low end crunch fest on the album. The main chugga riff is huge and quite simple, and the middle section is incredible with some great dropped down grooveage. The album closes out with a beautiful chilled out keyboard piece: Green Screen Mother. Great band that are not standing still and expanding their sound – they are one of my favourite bands of the moment.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

This is the album I first heard as samples through the band’s bandcamp page. I am beyond stoked that these wondrous sounds made it onto vinyl (as well as the band’s other two albums). I am not sure my mere words can do justice to the awesome sounds within these grooves. It’s a perfect balance between sometime delicate beautiful melodies with crushing djent riffage, and superb arrangements with really weird time signatures. The band have been around in different guises since 2006, but I have only been aware since 2015 when this album came to light. Ever present through everything is guitarist and vocalist, Asger Mygind, who in my mind is a genius. I think no one sounds like these guys, they make such a beautiful racket.

The opening track, The Same War, should have you drooling if you like technical Prog metal. The monster riff and groove have my brain scrambling to count the beat. The second track, The Stray Skies, has the most evil D-tuned riff known to man, but with such a delicate melody and chorus it’s a total contradiction that works so well. Owls is just nuts with the bass sound from the deep, and that manic melodic vocal over the top – it’s not like anything I have heard. Superb track! Perhaps the heaviest track in the record follows with Your Mind Is A Helpless Dreamer. The relentless deep heavy groove just pounds until a beautiful melody rises from the onslaught. This album is so good! This one definitely falls in the category of every home should have one.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

Vola are another band I discovered whilst late night Bandcamp surfing. They had just put up digital tracks from their first album (which I devoured eagerly), and when they made the album available as a physical product by making it available on CD, I invested in that as well. The lovely people at Mascot Records also thought the band were amazing as they snapped them up to a deal. This is the third album for the group that we have here today. While they were heavily influenced by the djenty sounds earlier on, they have expanded that sound more and added beauty and melody to the heaviness – and even pop moments – and that makes this band one of the most unique bands around today in the Prog-metal sphere.

The opening track, Straight Lines, has that incredible heaviness and groove that made me fall in love with them – a killer opening track. Head Mounted Sideways is just insanely good, and the low end groove makes your internal organs dance with joy as the vocal pop melody short circuits your brain as it struggles to fit the two together. This is just a monster of a track!!! The beauty of 24 Light Years is next, and the ethereal vocal sits over the very busy drum groove. You feel as though this is the soundtrack to some dystopian space movie until the more normal choppy Prog metal chords kick in. These Black Claws brings to a close this side of awesomeness, and again we are going in an different direction. The riff is so heavy it will crash through your floor, then there is a rap section with a guest spot from rapper Shamen, and then it’s back to riff and groove heaven. Another freaking awesome track.

Over to Side 2 we go with Freak, and band leader Asher Mygind shows the beauty and melody in his songwriting as the heaviness takes a backseat to a more traditional Prog feel. Napalm gets us back to combining the beauty and the melody with a heavy choppy riff and groove, which is a definite signature sound for the band. Future Bird actually reminds me of Steven Wilson with that light ethereal texture to the vocals and the ambient background electronics. Stone Leader Falling Down is an anti-Trump song, at least that’s what I get from the lyrics, and the anger in the music does reflect that. The riff and groove are very choppy, djenty, and heavy. The album closes out with Inside Your Fur and it’s the Vola signature melody that ends proceedings.

I admit to being biased as I love this band, but this is a great record. If you are interested in this type of music, you should definitely BUY THIS RECORD!!!

10/10 from The Grooveman.