Review Summary: A progressive metal-core band with a lot of promise.
Volumes, a band with a progressive metal-core sound has released their new EP “The Concept of Dreaming.” The EP contains what you would expect from a progressive metal-core band: full of technicality, odd-time signatures, and of course a lot of Poly-rhythms. The band contains six members: two vocalists (both of which sound some what similar at times, but at the same time, completely different), two guitarists, one bass player, and of course one drummer. This band’s melodic edge they use in their songs is what makes them somewhat different in the genre.
The guitarists are probably the highlight of this release. They have a very crunchy edge at times (during a breakdown or the chugging), but they get extremely melodic at times and very catchy and surprising to say the least. The song “Gateways,” shows the guitarists at their best work on the EP with all of the melodic riffs that come into play. The bass is there, but can be hard to hear. The drummer is very good at keeping up with the band. He adds a few good interesting fills here and there, nothing terrible, but it is good when they are used. The guitarists are what keeps the EP moving from start to finish with the melody and grooves incorporated into every track.
There are two vocalists in the band; one of them having a hardcore like shout, the other having a pseudo death-metal growl and higher pitched metal-core scream. The first time listening to the cd I thought the vocals were done by the same person, and that’s not a good thing. After a few listens anyone could tell the difference between them, but for the first few listens the vocalists sound almost identical. The lyrical content seems to deal with regret and lost relationships with ex-lovers. It’s not terribly done by any means, but it does sound very cheesy and childish at times.
For a six song EP it does have quite a bit of replay value. They are currently writing a LP. If they build upon their current sound and fix the problems (the two vocalists not sounding so similar, audible bass, improved lyrics), you can expect an extraordinary LP.
Recommended tracks:
Through the Trees
Gateways
Wormholes
