ALBUM REVIEW: VOLA - Friend Of A Phantom
Released 1st November via Mascot Label Group.
For fans of Leprous, Tesseract
Three years after forging their defining album ‘Witness’ Danish band VOLA, progressive metal band from Copenhagen are back to unleash ‘Friend Of A Phantom’ Featuring In Flames’ legend Anders Fridén on their lead obliterating single ‘Cannibal’
Making a thrilling entrance, Cannibal is cinematically beautiful, carving a path for pulverizing guitars. Large macerating drums. The chorus embraces serenading soaring clean vocals and wondrous synth to reflect the perfect flight. Impressively gigantic destructive scream vocals by Fridén really captivates and grips the listener and makes for a deadly breakdown.
Glass mannequin Opens in a different world. Think almost Legend of Zelda meets Tool, meets Mogwai -It’s serene, gentle, painful and grows with awe and apprehension and trepidation. It’s like water reflections. There’s a constant note that never ceases that feels like a drop of water. The subtle Orchestral strings make it such an emotive building at the end of the track to create such a dramatic ending, so abrupt I am left longing.
The Opening of Bleed Out feels robotic, it creates an absence of feeling that the previous track had so much of providing a very menacing and foreboding atmosphere. It’s faulty and jagged layers can be heard in the synths however they slip together effortlessly during the chorus creating such a gorgeous soundscape again. High pitch trills fade in and out throughout to double down on the futuristic approach.
The Break downs hit hard in this, the vocals shred through “I am covered in blood” the guitars replicate a sawing that you can only imagine someone being torn apart. Before returning to the serenity.
Paper Wolf reminds me so much of a futuristic post-apocalypse take on Red Riding Hood, It is a very repetitive apprehensive warning with thundering rhythms and malfunctioning synths, the midway is the highlight, uplifting and heightening until releasing the wolf of a breakdown and the vocals and melody reach to heavenly status. A chilling track indeed.
The above is just a few of my favourite tracks of the overall journey, however, my overall notes is that Friend Of A Phantom is the Perfect balance of brutal savagery and alluring pulchritude. It is Cinematic with a wondrously change of scenes and an overall epic stratospheric essence. The album is by definition an oxymoron that I’d describe as Elegant Force.
The soundscapes and layers are so rich and satiates the hunger of the listener in every aspect, everything is so well written and produced that it leaves no fault.
I adore the gorgeous vocals and harmonies and Low Riveting guitars. Each song is poetic, never lacking emotion, so thought provoking at every turn with epic musical plot twists.
