Vola // Live From The Pool // Album Review

So my first encounter with Vola was at Bloodstock Open Air Festival in 2018 I think, in Catton Park, England. They played the Sophie Lancaster Stage that day and I remember just how welcome their beautiful proggy-goodness was on that occasion as a diversion from the brutal Death and Black metal that filled the bill that year.

Now don’t get me wrong, Vola has a heavy element to their music when they want, but it is intertwined with melodic beauty and ambient moments that take the breath away. So their ‘Live From The Pool’ will be like a snapshot in time that will transport me back to the Sophie Tent and the thunderous sound that emitted that day from the gargantuan PA.

I am fortunate to be watching the DVD version of this recording, so 5 odd minutes in with the pool prepped and the tension has been suitably built up for the music.

The setting is unique, I’ll give them that for sure, the pool isn’t quite the romantic setting for a paddle but more a dystopian wreck that ties in nicely with Vola’s crazy-beautiful brand of music. The strobe lighting subtly lights the band members as they weave their way across a mesmerising set of tracks that just is mind-blowing. Vola seems to fuse the beauty in the melody with the brutality of distortion like few can. It is possibly down to the vocal delivery of Asger Mygind who delivers in the softest of ways against the violence of the music, and without going guttural you get a consistency in the delivery that allows for space to breathe and appreciate the musicality within the band and the songwriting.

The band as an entity are sublime, the musicianship just has to be appreciated and acknowledged, they produce stunning detailed songs with intricately interwoven complex layers that just envelope the listener and takes them on the most amazing sonic journey.

Thirteen killer tracks delivered the only way Vola know how to, in a blistering fashion that will leave you thankful that they are in your life.