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Angry Metal Guy<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/vola-friend-of-a-phantom-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">VOLA – Friend of a Phantom Review</a>By El CuervoDenmark’s VOLA is one of the jewels in the crown of progressive metal from the last ten years. Three successive releases orienting around smart, technical, creative and catchy songs with few real weaknesses means they’re one of my favorite bands around at the moment. A reliable tri-annual release schedule meant that 2024 was due a new record and the band duly delivered. Friend of a Phantom is the output, with a one sheet promising a new approach to song-writing and a newer, more mature VOLA. How does it fare?One of VOLA’s best qualities is their inventive genre-mashing, absorbing progressive metal, electronic, and djent – to the extent this can be described as its own genre and not just a way of playing guitar – into a cohesive, catchy whole. Although the band has consistently played with these tools, they’ve successfully staved off any accusations of repetition because they developed them across their discography thus far. <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/56270-2/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Inmazes</a> was the striking debut of this sound, while <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/vola-applause-of-a-distant-crowd-things-you-might-have-missed-2018/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Applause of a Distant Crowd</a> doubled down on each aspect to create a bolder, catchier, and better album. <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/vola-witness-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Witness</a> saw a greater drift towards electronica, even featuring some trip-hop verses. Unfortunately, I’m forced to deliver the news that Friend of a Phantom sees the creative wheels spinning in the mud for the first time. It could be described as Witness 2.0 as it tonally and musically feels very similar, the closest of any of their albums.This would be an acceptable position if their outrageous hooks had been redeployed, but this one is simply less fun and catchy than previous releases. There’s no track here that would obviously join an El Cuervo ‘best of VOLA’ playlist, though “Break My Lying Tongue” is the energetic highlight. Despite the band’s genre-blurring creativity, their real lifeblood was their melodies and grooves. And that blood is thinner here. I look to the opener called “Cannibal” as an example. It plumps for the fat grooves and catchy chorus that we’ve historically heard; no doubt its melodies are solid. An additional layer of harsh vocals lent by In Flames frontman Anders Fridén beef up the chorus and second verse. But among the big dual vocal performance and grooving lead, it’s actually the crisp drum rhythms that catch my attention. This isn’t a strength for a band like VOLA because I want the guitar, vocals and/or keyboard melodies to be the focal point. If I’m most engrossed by the drums then that tells me that I’m insufficiently engrossed by the bold instruments that should be engrossing me.I’ve mentioned “Cannibal” and “Break My Lying Tongue” as two tracks that aren’t the best in their discography, but they’re at least energetic and easy to enjoy. But the run of tracks after this, from “We Will Not Disband” to “Bleed Out,” all open quietly, resulting in a languid, faltering pace across the first half of the record. While two of these tracks ultimately speed up with faster material, their chorus melodies are only okay and don’t really justify the time it takes to get to them. There are some tracks here that just aren’t particularly exciting and “Bleed Out” feels worse because it’s not particularly exciting for over six minutes. Likewise, the closing few tracks do little that isn’t done better elsewhere on the record, ending things on a limp note. Even if I get more from the beginning of the album, the weakness of the ending means I’m not compelled to hit replay when I get to the end. I’m usually excited and engaged listening to VOLA but this album slips to the background and is easy to pass when I’m choosing what next to listen to.VOLA’s style is a style that fundamentally works for me; their core sound is fun. I think they’ll struggle to publish an album that I actively don’t like. But Friend of a Phantom is comfortably my least favorite of their work and – unlike prior records – an exceedingly hard sell for metalheads that don’t already enjoy some type of electronic music. To a lesser extent than previously it continues to demonstrate the band’s melodic strengths, but not much here sticks with me once it’s over. ‘Unmemorable’ was not what I wanted or expected for VOLA. Rating: 2.5/5.0 DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stream Label: <a href="https://www.mascotlabelgroup.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Mascot Records</a> Websites: <a href="https://www.volaband.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">volaband.com</a> | <a href="https://volaband.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">vola.bandcamp.com</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/volaband" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">facebook.com/vola</a> Releases worldwide: November 1st, 2024<a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/2-5/" target="_blank">#25</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/2024/" target="_blank">#2024</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/danish-metal/" target="_blank">#DanishMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/electronica/" target="_blank">#Electronica</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/friend-of-a-phantom/" target="_blank">#FriendOfAPhantom</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/in-flames/" target="_blank">#InFlames</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/nov24/" target="_blank">#Nov24</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/progressive-metal/" target="_blank">#ProgressiveMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/review/" target="_blank">#Review</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/reviews/" target="_blank">#Reviews</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/vola/" target="_blank">#VOLA</a>

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