As a band that crosses thrash metal with classical melodic death and European power metal, Volcano doesn’t just do justice to all three genres – they excel in them. I’ve never heard a band that makes music so pleasing that it tickles me in these three genres at the same time. Some bands can do it with two genres – death / doom, power / heavy, black / thrash – you know, the typical stuff, but three? With one being harsher than the other!? Only a genius could do this, and he’d need a crack team to do it!
Now the debut was a charismatic rocker with tons of straightforward, memorable tracks. Davi follows the same route, though the tracks here aren’t as in your face; this is probably because of the production shift. While the production is still very high, it isn’t entirely the same as the Nordstöm / Gothenburg sound that characterizes the band’s main music. Here, the music is a little more tentative and developed, with more affection given to the leads than on undemanding catchiness. I’m not insulting the first album, but in a way Davi is a growing album that, once it clicks, will be the flower in your life.
Every instrument is loud and crisp, and the guitar leads the charge with riffs innumerable and hostile. They’ll twist, burn, shred, and zoom without a whimper while you collect yourself, yet they aren’t technical or go all over the place – She-Ja knows he’s good, but he doesn’t jerk off his guitar neck because of it. What he does play is orgasmic, though, with the harmonious leads and neo-classical solos being the envy of any guitar player. I can’t exactly pinpoint a favorite, and it isn’t like She-Ja sticks to one type of style or song, either. No, you got harsher death / thrash songs like “Barbwire,” funky jives like “The Wild Obscene Nights” (fun song right here!), neo-classic opuses like “Absurd” and “Child Eyes,” and the rest being killer material, too.
Bass booms ride like electrical explosions on a one-way path to even bigger explosions. She-Ja’s guitar tone is buff, but the bass adds that extra bit to make it crunchier and grumpier, although not much bass groove is heard. Katsuji follows up right behind it every step of the way, and the more I progress the less I care about the hollow echo of the snares. I know that I can look forward to rolls, bashes of pure anger, decimating double bass, and artillery crashing cymbals from a man who knows a thing or two about drum kits.
Topping it all off is Nov, who has come a very long way since his thrash days in Aion. Hell, his barks puts his vocals as a youngster to shame: grunts, shouts, wails, screams, and more are the styles of choice on Davi, giving the listener more to appreciate as they hear him doing all of them with that arid throat of his. After listening to so much off Aion, it’s quite the change hearing Nov going for harsh vocals like he’s been doing it for years.
Come one, come all! Everyone that’s looking for thrash, melodic death, power metal, heavy metal or a swell mix between two or three or all of them should look no further than Davi. While you’re at it, give the rest of the band’s material some loving and go get hooked like the rest of their fans.