10 Incredible Metal Albums You May Have Missed In 2021
6. Witness - VOLA
A low key survivor of the bloated Djent scene of the 2010s, VOLA have been pensively releasing high calibre music for over half a decade, and this third collection of songs doesn’t seem to be changing that.
More known for their ethereal and euphoric take on the genre, VOLA’s atomic clock time keeping allows downtuned guitar lines to snake and flourish along the rhythm section with a disarming lightness. Electronics in the mix add an extra layer to this sumptuous soup of sound, and vocalist Asger Mygind sounds as angelic as ever.
This juxtaposing of the serene against the often crushing heaviness has always been what makes VOLA such an intriguing proposition. You’re barely out the gate before the one-two of ‘Straight Lines’ and ‘Head Mounted Sideways’ sets the tone for the rest of the album, all twinkling keys and the kind of downtuned heft you need extra guitar strings to achieve.
Not wanting to rest on their laurels, however, VOLA have drafted in US Rapper Shahmen for mid-album oddity ‘These Black Crows’. Starting more like a hip-hop track than one that belongs on a Metal album, when the guitars and drums kick in you’re under no illusion of where you are, before being pulled back to an alternate world when Shahmen joins in. The album contains better tracks, but something about this collab just works, and proves VOLA are a band unafraid to experiment, and that they really know what they’re doing when they do.
Listen To: Head Mounted Sideways