Lista de Bandas Metalcore Volumes No Sleep

"No Sleep" is the second full length album from Progressive Metalcore band Volumes and also their first album since 2011's "Via". This album features more clean vocals than Via but don't let that forge your opinion just yet. Michael's cleans flow perfectly with the songs and bring a nice melody to the crushing djenty riffs of the L.A. based band.


The album runs for 34 minutes, which is somewhat disappointing considering we heard one of the tracks a few months ago (Vahle) and two of them are instrumental interludes. So we get only 7 new songs basically, as Vahle has been released a while back. It's not that the album is bad, far from that, every song is a masterpiece, but I'm still hungry for some new Volumes. The official release date is July 15th, 2014. The album is released through Mediaskare Records. Three singles have been released for the album. Vahle (Pre-production version) a few months ago, The Mixture and Erased. Better Half was also released with Erased, but it's an minute and a half interlude. The album contains 10 tracks. One of them featuring Casey Sabol, formerly of Periphery. They go as followed:


Track 1: The Mixture
What better way to kick off a Volumes album that a djenty little riff like at the beginning of Wormholes. This clarifies that Volumes have forged their own sound. What I love about Volumes is the perfect exchange of vocal parts between the two vocalists. Is it really necessary to have two vocalists? Not really, but these guys do it well and it kinda sets Volumes apart from the other bands. The lyrics are kinda meh but the breakdown at the end with the fast vocals that match the chugging make it sound really cool. It's a great and catchy song

Track 2: 91367
I feel as if this is kind of a filler track, but it's still good. I have mixed emotions about it. It's really good, it's a Volumes song, but it's nothing we haven't heard from them. I don't want to complain about it, I like when bands keep their same style, because if I wanted to hear something else, I'd go listen to something else and I love Volumes for sticking to the same genre. This album isn't really anything that is a "more mature sound" or "different direction" other than the addition of more clean vocals, but it's a good thing. 91367 is a good track with hard hitting riffs and it's definitely for the fans of Via.

Track 3: Erased
Second single to be released during the promotion of No Sleep (not counting Vahle), the song kicks off with clean guitar leading into a atmospheric verse, beautifully sung by Michael Barr. It leads into a very catchy and well put together chorus, connecting right back in the beautiful verse. We eventually get that Volumes/djenty sound during the breakdown that harmonizes perfectly in the song to add a brutal side to the song, but in all honesty, this might just be the best song on the album. It's a beautiful track, melodic and heavy at times, soft and calm at others.

Track 4: Better Half
Well this is the first interlude in the album, the beginning connects with the ending of Erased. It's mainly electronic and it has a nice synth, I don't really see the point in having it, and there isn't much to say, they probably should've kept it at the end of Erased, in one track, and add another song on the album. The ending leads to Track 5.

Track 5: Across the Bed
From what I read online, this is the most popular song off the release so far, seems to be a fan favorite, and I totally understand where that comes from. Nice little intro leading into the crushing vocals of Michael Barr in the chorus. Or maybe that's just a bridge/pre-chorus because the clean vocals follow up for a very melodic and catchy chorus. The cleans are done by Casey Sabol, formerly of Periphery. This song is another softer one but don't let the word soft kill the song for you, it's another beautiful song from the boys in Volumes. There's a little break in the song and we are back to the pre-chorus. I really enjoy Michael's vocals. Don't get me wrong, Gus sounds great too, but I feel as if Michael really steals the spotlight on this album. Only a small part of the song has Gus in it and it's one of the best tracks, but maybe it has nothing to do with it. Oh, and is that chorus ever catchy, check this song out. The song ends with the same clean guitar from the intro.

Track 6: Pistol Play
No build-up, this song kicks right into a sick bouncy riff. Songs like this one, 91367, have definitely Via-ish songs, if they were to play this album in whole live, they would be the bouncy, pit opener tracks. Songs like Erased or Across the Bed are more songs that will call for sing alongs and such. This song is pretty heavy so far, I'm liking it more than 91367, as good as it was. There's a little clean guitar break with Gus' vocals kicking it with the electric guitar kicking it with them. This is a very great part of the song, also letting Gus show off his vocals. Even though Michael is better in my opinion, Gus has his own sound and he sounds particularly great on this track.

Track 7: Vahle
Finally, after so many months of listening to the pre-production version of this song, we get to hear the real deal. Vahle is a song written about Volumes' long time friend James Vahle. I love this song for the emotion you can feel while listening to it but also the incredible melodies and instrumentation that go on behind the beautiful vocals of Gus and Michael. The guitar leading in the chorus, once again beautifully sung by Michael, sounds absolutely epic. The chorus is also very catchy, displaying their love for Vahle and the loneliness they feel. We get a break around the half of the song and it brings right back into the heaviest part of the song, a crushing breakdown. "Gone but never forgotten" screams Gus, followed by a heartbreaking scream of James Vahle's name. Gus and Michael exchange vocals shortly after and an electro breakdown (with vocals) leads into a short break and the pre-chorus with the melodic guitar is back, and we get the catchy chorus with the cleans again and the song fades.

Track 8: Neon Eyes
Neon Eyes is part of the heavy Via-ish songs. It might be the heaviest track on the album after The Mixture, if not that it's even heavier than The Mixture. It's an overall very catchy song and I don't know what to say really as it's just a very plain Volumes song, there aren't any distinctive aspects that I can review to this song other than it's the heaviest track on the album I might say.

Track 9: Peace of Mind
Final interlude/instrumental on the album. It seems to be only clean guitar and it's also very short. I find those upsetting. They are really short, so they could've been just included at the end of the song before or as intros to the song after so we could have room for two more songs, or if they really wanted instrumentals, I'm sure Volumes could've pulled something beautiful for like three or four minutes long instrumentals, they have the talent for it.

Track 10: Up All Night
Last song on the album, it kicks off with a brutal Michael Barr screaming, and we are now listening to the last track of No Sleep. An album we waited three years for. This song also includes clean vocals, it's not as good as the other songs that had clean vocals but it's definitely a song to check out. The chorus is very quiet, no drumming, just clean guitars. But it sounds very good, it connects with a screaming from Michael for a heavier part. The song ends with the chorus, and a clean outro to end the album.

Overall, it's a very good album. It's original to a certain point, it flows well, other than the interludes, it's heavy, then softer, but the softer parts are done well enough that it's not even a downside. The musical skills are amazing, as usual from Volumes, the vocals sound amazing, the lyrics are great. The album holds great substance and I feel like it'll be playing quite a lot in any Volumes fans' music players. It's not a one time listen kinda thing. The production sounds stellar too. So I give the album an 8.3. Check out the upsides/downsides at the bottom with a short list of what songs you should check out.

FINAL REVIEW

Originality: 7/10
Flow: 7/10
Pace: 7/10
Musical skill: 9/10
Vocals: 9/10
Lyrics: 8/10
Substance: 8/10
Overall impact: 9/10
Longevity: 9/10
Production: 10/10

Total: 8.3/10

Upside: Guitar work, the addition of clean vocals, melodies
Downside: Interludes, Length

Tracks you should listen to: The Mixture, Erased, Across the Bed