Review: “ETNA” by Volucrine

Longing, Sorrow, Life, Love, Death. These are the themes that are at the black heart of the stories told by Jupe Velin, inspired by his upbringing by the cold Kymijoki river in the shadows of Kouvola’s concrete structures. In 2009 he founded a Melodic Death Metal act simply named “V” (we assumed as in “Five” and not as in “Vendetta“) who enjoyed an initial five year run before line up changes led to a name change to Volucrine. Having been a six piece the band were reduced to a four with original bassist Joni Kyynäräinen (Rage My Bitch, Ruin) and guitarist Antti Heikkilä (Verenperintö) joined in 2018 by drummer Jani-Sebastian Aalto (Sarvas, The Impact) who went on to create 2019 debut album “Skywards” and 2021 follow up EP “Relinquished” together. Thus far each record has told stories of relatable emotions and challenges; to reflect and articulate humane themes beyond the borders of pain, doing so by interweaving Melodic Death Metal with an unhealthy dose of refined Metalcore…

How long “ETNA” has existed as an album prior to it’s release seems something of a mystery with January 2023 seeing the arrival of single “Combatant” but that doesn’t take away from any of it’s qualities. If anything for the most part opening cut “Riptide” feels like something inspired by “Awaken The Fallen” era Avenged Sevenfold with sing-a-long vocals and slick riffs intertwined with some tasteful uncleans and sounding all too familiar in a nostalgic kind of way. Chemically enhanced by programming “Combatant” builds on those foundations with staccato riff breaks and an abundance of groove, once again feeling polished and accomplished without really doing anything you haven’t heard elsewhere previously. The chorus is so bright and bold that you might even find yourself singing along on the first listen and the same can be said of “Old Flame“, a song very much in line with what the current crop of Modern Metalcore bands are creating. A delicate spoken word and good use of vocal layering to underpin soaring cleans with screams all works very well, as does the breakdown into a tapping section in the final third. The liner notes suggest that all that was recorded in a studio were the drums and that is an investment well made, the drum sound on “Scarred Earth” in particular a solid highlight after a palate cleansing introduction. This one lacks a real gut punch moment that would take it from solid to stunning, begging for industrial enhancement and pyrotechnics but never quite reaching those heights. Having more swagger to it in the vein of “The Curse” era Atreyu, “The Verge” dances around the cerebral cortex with that modernised 80’s flamboyance and a couple of vibrant solos. More in keeping with the style of the opening cut that the ones which follow it, this one feels like an attempt to crack American Hard Rock Radio which could well happen.

Jean-Claude Van Damme’s layers may twitch at the title of “Bloodsports” but this second wave of Metalcore cut won’t cause any trouble as the band follow a clean chorus unclean verse formula, adding another impressive solo. The problem here isn’t that this doesn’t sound good but that it’s so familiar that it might not have the longevity that it deserves. If anything it should sound dated but instead it sounds vintage, a if the band are trying to bring a genre that died because it was over saturated back fourteen years down the yellow brick road. The title track follows in “ETNA” and continues the narrative with a rich and refined vocal performance, the glorious melodic leads enhancing the riffs making for some hummable earworm moments. If you’ve ever seen a Godsmack show then you’ll know about their love of a drum jam, well “Pyroclastic” takes that idea and builds on it to create a soul stirring instrumental that would work well at any point on the album. As it is it serves as an introduction to “Godsized” which has a far more vicious opening verse to accompany galloping drums with energetic riffs before bursting into blast beats ahead of stunning chorus. A monster of a track, this one stands out because the band have injected a lethal dose of adrenaline and increased the intensity sevenfold to create something enthralling from start to finish. There is an argument that the album might be better if this pairing were at the beginning, however there isn’t anything wrong with the overall flow. Last but by no means least “Escapist” notches up more blast beats in unexpected places, unclean vocal moments serving to add some grit to the soaring cleans. The vigorous riffs fade into a delicate and heart felt acoustic verse, changing the tone of the song and leaving you wondering just what might have happened if they had made it entirely like this… [7/10]

Track Listing

1. Riptide
2. Combatant
3. Old Friend
4. Scarred Earth
5. The Verge
6. Bloodsports
7. ETNA
8. Pyroclastic
9. Godsized
10. Escapist

“ETNA” by Volucrine is out 16th February 2024 via Inverse Records with pre-orders available over at bandcamp