40 Minutes of Me Vibing Out To VOLA's "Friend Of A Phantom"

[@esaedvik]

Absolute masterpiece. Nothing else.

[@Meowmeow0506]

Hahaha I had your exact same reaction to We Will Not Disband and Bleed Out. The Latter is up there with Inmazes and Head Mounted Sideways for my favorite VOLA songs ever. Bleed Out and We Will Not Disband have just so much texture and atmosphere. I absolutely love like 20 different things going on in prog, while the synth has been going ham all record I think those two songs is where it really shines. The sections in which the bass and drums are brought higher in the mix in Bleed Out are just perfection. Ugh and the two drum fills in that song just give me life. Absolutely love Bleed Out.

[@CorrodedMoon]

Love this album, Bleed Out, We Will Not Disband, and Hollow kid are definately my standouts, the first listen, it didnt properly resonate with me, but after a 2nd listen, i love it

[@Owenator26]

Same here on my 2nd or 3rd listen of the album I was blown away lol

[@RainbowGravity92]

Same. I had the same instance with Applause of a Distant Crowd. Both that and this album stand out, but Vola, in my opinion, can do now wrong. This album won my AOTY.

[@andreknippschild1105]

Goosebumps...tears....chills...nothing more to say! That's what music is made for... 🙏

[@TheFishbrad1]

This album grows on you each time I listen to it. At first I really didn't enjoy it but after multiple listens this album is great.

[@McDolands_HaterFR]

Had this album presaved on spotify since the day i was able to. pre ordered the vinyll last week. So worth it.

[@TheRatsack]

I love Vola 🫶

[@LucaLRyuzaki]

Great album, one of the best of this year 😎

[@SpudTheJosh]

incredible incredible stuff

[@mikaruhtinas9223]

Cannibal is one of their greatest

[@RainbowGravity92]

The thing with Vola is that they make music that they would listen to. They're very much a progressive metal band. Each album sets itself apart from the last to some degree. Their overall motif is melancholy, but punctuated by an uplift. I will say, my first couple of listens of this album i wasn't sure what I truly thought about it, but after several listens, it just reaffirms (for me, simply my opinion) that they never have a miss. They dethroned Periphery for favorite band of all time. And that kinda hurts to say. I feel like a traitor lol Addendum; Asger has said that he purposely writes lyrics that can resonate with everyone, leaving room for people to interpret it for themselves so it feels personal. That's not to say that he doesnt have his one intent behind them, but I love that philosophy.

[@artistrankings6794]

my only experience with VOLA prior is Witness and I wasn't huge on it at the time, but this album might be the most beautiful record I've heard all year. Might have to give Witness a second time

[@shadixyt]

I do genuinely wonder if Alice in Chains has some influence in their sound cause both Hollow Kid and Smartfriend from the last album definitely have a kind of sludgy grungy vibe that reminds me of "Get Born Again" era Alice in Chains. Its very cool.

[@Owenator26]

Vola's last album was Witness the album with Smartfriend is Applause From A Distant Crowd their 2nd album. But totally man wouldn't surprise me if AIC is an influence for them

[@shadixyt]

@Owenator26 I feel so embarrassed for flubbing that you're totally right I don't know what I was thinking

[@HeartsSetOnFire]

As others have said i didn't much enjoy this album on it´s own, there are some bangers for sure but think alot of the songs suffer from "main character" energy from the synths, they can be too dominating and feels kind of cheap and the album doesn´t flow well between tracks... But after having heard them live at the release party they toned down some of the harsh synths and the blend with the existing discogprahy is really good. I dont think the album is great on it`s own but great and very vola esque together with their previous releases.

[@Owenator26]

Dude they should have put at least 1 more song on the album to make it 10 I'm the same as you I don't want it to end it's so short lol. I have to say off first listen my favourite non singles are We Will Not Disband, Bleed Out, Hollow Kid & Tray so pretty much all of them except Glass Mannequin lol. I Don't Know How We Got Here was probably my favourite out of the singles they did drop before the album. That chorus is so catchy. Vola continues to amaze me with the atmosphere and melodies they bring to their music very unique style and also a fantastic live band. If you haven't seen them live highly reccomend it! \m/. You also make a good point about the screams in the first song Cannibal I prefer when Asger screams don't get me wrong I love In Flames and Anders screams but I feel it kind of strays area from the Vola recipe and their sound when someone else is screaming. I actually don't like when this band collaborates with other artists it takes away from their unique sound in my opinion.

[@CorrodedMoon]

Lol we have the same top 4, great picks

[@EmilianoSoca]

I didn't enjoy this album as the previous ones, especially because of the amount of singles released and the gap between the first single and the album release. (don't know if that strategy works for them, but if it does, cool) But that definitely took out the surprise factor, imo. If I would have listened to Paper Wolf and Break My Lying Tongue in the album and not as singles, I would have enjoyed them even more. Even though, it's a really cool album, strong contender for AOTY

[@Amplingg]

Not done with the video yet and had never heard this band before. These first 2 songs had me almost ready to click off and admit that this may not be for me, but maaaan that third song is incredible.

[@TheRatsack]

Please dive into everything they have 🙏 they’ve never released something bad, and every song and album is unique in its own way.

[@huhahehahhhuijh9531]

What ive noticed with vola is that the initial listen doesn’t really reflect with me but when I give it another try it just does something different to my ears lol! Give them a few tries and they might end up as one of your favorites haha!

[@Storm23PS3]

The album is good. They are my favorite band but I will say, right now, it is my least favorite of the 4. Definitely will listen to it like crazy, and don't get me wrong, I like it a lot, but the other 3 are just masterpieces to me. As for Cannibal, I agree. Anders' voice isn't really for me and doesn't fit the vibe of VOLA imo. It is still a good song but I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't featuring him or featured another singer that fit in better with the sound of the band. I became a fan of VOLA at the same time as you and as soon as I heard the 3 albums, I was obsessed and searched the internet looking for other reactions to them. I found your channel and I was in awe just like you. Pretty cool to discover at about the same time. As for another band to suggest, check out One Hundred Thousand's new EP: Liminal. Spotify doesn't have it as a playlist, though all 5 songs are there. KZbin has the playlist. I love it so much and think you would enjoy it. kzbin.info/aero/PLQYYn7WImOoRnaYHiLFMAXi0fdvlhoO4f

[@Nahtan.9758]

beggining of hollow kid gives me haken vibes lol

[@LucaLRyuzaki]

Pain of salvation vibe!

[@stri8ted]

Decent album. A bit generic and predictable, but a few nice ones in between.

[@miikakyllonen5871]

A little bit underwhelming as a whole, some decent bangers in there, but not on par with Witness or Applause. Seems like a coming of age album, maturing to their role in the zeitgeist but not showing up with anything mind-blowing.

[@Nahtan.9758]

tops witness for me, but not applause or inmazes

[@jamesschultz8260]

First couple listens, I had my favorites but wasn’t sure about the rest. After a few more listens and now I’m all in and love the whole album. I actually like the softer ones more than the heavy bangers