Vola are gearing up to release their debut album Inmazes, following on from their two EPs Monsters and Homesick Machinery. It’s definitely listenable, but on the other hand it doesn’t really do enough to stand out from the crowd.
Inmazes isn’t an inherently bad album, it’s not one of the most exciting or unique albums out there. The songs just aren’t that memorable, with nothing about them really sticking in your head, and additionally there’s not a great deal of variety from song to song – they tend to merge into one, rather than having their own unique identities. It feels more like background music than a fully engaging listen.
The musical performances from all of the members is great, and the production-quality is also top-notch, but it’s difficult to get excited when the music is just so underwhelming – and indeed, it’s difficult to even know what to say about it when nothing stands out about it. However, it is possible that Vola’s music is best appreciated live, so hopefully when I see them supporting Katatonia in about a month’s time, having visuals to accompany the music will give it an extra impact. However on CD at least, it’s just a somewhat forgettable piece of work.
5/10
