Music / Reviews
Review: VOLA/Charlotte Wessels/The Intersphere, SWX
Naturally, one hesitates to deploy national stereotypes, but there’s something ruthlessly efficient about German quartet The Intersphere. They’re clearly aware of all the key players in modern prog-metal without making the mistake of sounding directly derivative of any of them.
The guitar sound occasionally veers dangerously close to that of those terrible ’80s bands like Big Country, but the three-part vocals are hugely impressive, the arrangements precise, and the lead singer sounds a little like Einar Solberg without the extraordinary vocal range.
is needed now More than ever
They wind up going full prog-punk with an enjoyably thrashy number before racing off to drive to Luxembourg for a gig just 24 hours later.
You’d have thought that being jettisoned as frontwoman of a mid-range symphonic metal band with an international fanbase might lead you to lick your wounds for a while or even return to your roots in – horror! – jazz. But Dutch singer Charlotte Wessels is made of sterner stuff. After departing Delain (who, by coincidence, performed on this very stage a few days ago) in 2021, she wasted no time in launching a solo career, and now has three albums under her belt.
Most of tonight’s set is drawn from the latest of these, The Obsession, and the pleasant surprise is that, as performed by her excellent band, these songs sound much heavier and more dynamic in a live setting than they do on CD.
The catchy Dopamine, for example, could easily be repurposed as a pop song if the guitars were taken off, but Wessels drags it in the opposite direction, making it sound a lot harder and crunchier. As one of the genre’s most likeable and relatable figures, she’s also quite happy to share her vulnerabilities.
She talks about the challenge of playing The Crying Room, a song about performance anxiety, while suffering from performance anxiety, which she deals with by wearing T-shirt that reads ‘I love crying’. ” . . . and because I like to capitalise on my insecurities, these are also available from the merch stand.”
The theme continues with Soft Revolution, which is “about being absolutely terrified of something and then doing it anyway”. Her vocals are extraordinarily powerful throughout, with just the occasional hint of early influence Kate Bush. By the time she reaches set closer The Exorcism, she sounds positively demonic, as though auditioning for a death metal band. Time for a headline tour, I reckon.
Watching Danish-Swedish prog-metallers VOLA play their first gig in Bristol supporting Haken at the Fleece back in 2019, the response from many of us present was: “Who the fuck are these guys? And how did they get to be so amazingly good?” They’ve charted an upward trajectory since then, as they swiftly became headliners and now follow the likes of musical fellow travellers Haken and Leprous in graduating from the Fleece to SWX. It helps that their timing has been perfect, as this music has never been more popular, and that’s been matched by constant evolution of their music.
The uncluttered stage is dominated by shimmering and pulsating column lights, which prove impressively complementary when combined with sparing use of lasers.
Opener I Don’t Know How We Got Here from new album Friend of a Phantom sounds a little like The Pineapple Thief with a metal makeover, showcasing frontman Asger Mygind’s trademark clear and striking vocals. The hippity-hoppity These Black Claws underlines the breadth of the band’s musical palette and gives keyboard player Martin Werner the opportunity to indulge in some serious electronica. Few prog-metal acts use keyboards so creatively and effectively.
A serious mid-set outburst of heaviosity places Mygind’s riffage centre stage as Break My Lying Tongue, Head Mounted Sideways and Cannibal generate a huge mosh pit – something of a rarity in prog-metal – without ever losing sight of the melodies that underpin this ferocious, complex music.
VOLA aren’t one of those bands who completely ignore their previous album while flogging the new one, so Witness gets a fair outing, with the irresistible Straight Lines as the big singalong set closer. The curfew’s just minutes away, so they’re naturally dragged back to deliver Stray the Skies from their debut album Inmazes, which Mygind has been keen to remind us is now nearly ten years old. Here’s to the next decade.
All pix by Mike Evans
Read more: Metal & Prog Picks: November 2024
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