After many line-up changes over the last years (the debut "Beyond an Armoured Skin" was released in May 2007 !), Berlin based band VOLTRON are finally back with this sophomore album named "Kaventsmann"...
Sludge or DoomCore ?! In fact, some years ago a journalist labeled them as DoomCore-Blutgrätsche (Blutgrätsche is the German word for a dangerous sliding tackle) which they have continued using to describe their sound... but well, ain't Sludge basically a mix of Doom and HC ? so, I would be tempted to say that VOLTRON is basically a SLUDGE band, I'd even add METAL too (maybe even before anything else!) for it is uncompromised and thick but also very melodic and powerful at the same time, finally I could also add Atsmopheric too cause we've got here a great dose of breathing moments.... Ok, there might be some HC overtones in the angriness of some vocal parts but some others are seriously eying on doom/Death hints... so, shit, enough with that, the most essential to know is that Voltron is heavy, dark and soulful !
We've got here 8 songs for about 55 minutes, most of them clocking at around 7 minutes which often give lots of variations in the tempos and structures from extremely heavy and pounding to more quiet and melodic.
"13 Liter Bohrmaschine" is a rather classic opener with a severe and damn heavy riffage; the quiet and accoustic intro of "Black to Back" announces the first signs of a more developped musicality, the rising tension progressively leads to an amazing chorus and then to explode in some furious blasting moments in the end.
The following "Studententoeter" is a nebulous piece of doomy heaviness, also including a consequent accoustic passage, like a transition between two worlds of pain and unknown. Not filled at 150% of just hate and brutality or despair and funeralism, the music of VOLTRON is not particularly extreme but filled with enough of that all in a well measured refinement full of twisted riffage, cold moods and sheer heaviness...
There's other nice little surprises like that middle-eastern sounding riff in "Still Faster Than Nothing Can Be Slow", extremely catchy and classy, this is the highlight of the album and the ideal song for a brilliant solo which definitely transport the listener in unknown mystical landscapes !
The only weak song to my opinion is "Helmet Berger At Salzburg Airport" (what a strange name again!), monotonous and empty; luckily "Medic! Help" comes back to a serious level of composition and the closer "Fuck Forever Over Time" is not far at the top of Kaventsmann, this nine minutes long epic piece has it all, including some blackened fast riffage and then very slow and doomy moments in its last part.
I'm bluffed by this new effort, a real grower which needs attentive listening to be fully enjoyed, great work guys !
Great DIY bands like VOLTRON need your support, check them out \m/
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