The powerhouse quartet from Copenhagen, VOLA just released Friend of a Phantom, their fourth studio album, on November 1st through Mascot Records.
They create an eclectic blend of sounds and atmospheres, making it quite difficult to pin them down to a specific genre; groove-laden progressive alt-rock/metal, with industrial and electronic elements? That’s how I would describe it.
The band draws inspiration from various musical avenues (hence the nature of their music), though Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Devin Townsend, Soilwork, Mushuggah, Massive Attack, Ulver, and Mew are some strong influences.
Friend of a Phantom starts off hard and heavy with the first track, Cannibal. It features Anders Fridén from In Flames, delivering some of his iconic vocals. The track opens with a hefty and groovy riff, followed by a spacious and melodic chorus, leading into a hard breakdown with Fridén filling out the space with sick vocals.
Break my Lying Tongue is up next and it has features those electronic elements mentioned earlier. It shifts well between upbeat, driven passages and softer, lighter sounds. About halfway through the song, it goes into this dark, almost subterranean section – it’s haunting and mysterious with a dense pit of synthesized bass, menacingly holding the vocals in what feels like aerial suspension. I love it.
The third and fourth songs (though there are still some heavy parts) set a softer and more sensual scene. We Will Not Disband starts off subtly and builds power as it progresses, where Glass Mannequin is a more ethereal journey of the self; beautifully textured with layers of atmospheric sound and vocal harmonies. I’m really enjoying the album thus far. It’s very well written, recorded, as well as produced, and it’s super tight and textured.
Glass Mannequin’s calm and introspective mood gets absolutely evaporated by the sexy and seductive trap-like beats of Bleed Out. The first chorus introduces the rest of the band with their instruments of sonic sorcery and the track takes us to a hypnotic section; calling forth and summoning the most savage breakdown – tearing apart the slightest tickle of restraint I had left. My favourite track off of the album, for sure.
The rest of the album is solid and I really enjoyed Paper Wolf and Hollow Kid as well.
I really appreciate the intricacy and depth with which VOLA explore themes and ideas, as well as the way in which they present and express various atmospheres and feelings.
I would definitely recommend checking out Friend of a Phantom; I believe it’s quite a unique experience – even though there are definite influences one can hear, VOLA certainly bring their own distinct blend of prog to the airwaves.
-Lunis Voidbright-