Metafiction

Now here's a prog rock/metal album where music plays a much more important part than musical show-off. Votum (means prayer where a sacrifice is offered) come from Poland and 'Metafiction' is their second full length album. The band's debut album 'Time Must Have a Stop' (2008) has been praised by those few who've heard it. I haven't.

Votum build strong atmospheres. Their compositions follow feelings and not any typical formulas to write music. So, anything can follow after a part in a song. Opener 'Falling Dream' is a perfect example of this; a song that follows emotions and builds itself through the musicians. 'Metafiction' is still about heavy emotions, even though they are represented in more like observing terms, not in violently exploding ways. The music is mostly very calm, but still it has a goal, which keeps it interesting. 'Stranger than Fiction' is the only full-on metal song, some others have metal bits in them. Fantastic, memorable guitar work with quite a lot fo lead guitar playing, together with awe-inspiring soft-ish singing are the major chauffeurs. Keyboards leave assumption, that they are just backing up the guitars and the vocals, but there's more to them. Bass and drums create the essential pulse. Instrumental work is simple, if compared to majority of highly technical "music academy" prog bands, but it also feels true. It all has edge.

The band says, that their art is binding music, lyrics and visual artwork together. The promo copy leaves the experience incomplete... The lyrics seem to be about man ruining himself, losing everything he loves. The lyrics tell a story, but it's left for a listener to finish it.

Fine compositional work, good production and excellent performances. Feelings above technicality. Votum have released an interesting album, that basically sounds easy, but holds a lot of listening experiences for a long time. Experience it.

(originally written for ArchaicMetallurgy.com in 2010)

Pleasant surprises are always welcome, and this was one of the biggest ones for me in 2009, right at the end of the year. I had heard of the band before, but had never given them much attention for some reason; and then suddenly, I ended up with this album in my hands. Let's just say that it might have been the first time ever that I decided to listen to an album based on the artwork and the concept alone – this means something in itself, and these are two things the band must have paid a lot of attention to. The people responsible for the graphical side of the album did an amazing work, and the band itself also got a really interesting idea for a story...

Musically, Metafiction lies somewhere on the border between progressive rock and metal, with a slight nod towards the former. Don't expect insane technical riffing here – I think I can say piano is the dominating instrument here, although the guitars still have plenty of space, however, they mostly sound very subtle and support the music rather than leading it, which is not that usual. Though, on the other hand, there are some heavier moments and riffs as well, such as the entire Stranger Than Fiction, or parts of Glassy Essence and December 20th. This, however, is not the main portion of the album; it seems the band wanted to focus on atmosphere more than anything else here and they certainly succeeded - it's an album that allows you to drown inside immediately, although it reveals more details with every listen. I definitely can feel some different influences throughout the album, but the band has developed a certain style and definitely doesn't sound like a copy of anything here. Though if I had to point out two albums that come to my mind as possible influences here - it would be Marillion "Marbles" and Riverside "Rapid Eye Movement". It might be just my personal view, but it definitely has some elements of both - great subtlety of instruments and the illusion of peace from the former, the feeling of darkness and isolation from the latter, and the variety and importance of atmosphere of both. It takes skill to take inspiration from other bands, and Votum definitely have it. The album sounds like they take the best things from their possible influences, but none of them are obvious and in the end, it sounds like their own music and not a combination of several older bands.

The album as a whole isn't long (a bit over 44 minutes), and it's structured in the "epic beginning and end" way, with both the opener (Falling Dream) and closer (December 20th) being the longest tracks here, both a bit over 9 minutes. Falling Dream tells you right in the beginning what to expect, and it's possibly the best representation of the whole album - starting, of course, with a subtle piano, and over time building up for the much more powerful part. Another song structured in a similar way, although darker and more dramatic, is the sixth track, Indifferent - it's much simpler (and shorter) overall, but it's the kind of song that's carried by atmosphere and emotion alone, feeling like the most introverted piece on the whole album. The two heavier moments on the album are Glassy Essence and Stranger Than Fiction - while the first one alternates between heavier (particularly the intro) and softer sections, the latter is definitely the heaviest song on the whole album, driven by heavy riffs and even with some use of harsher vocals (it also definitely sounds like a potential live opener to me...). Finally, in contrast, the calmest part of the album is the middle - Home and Faces. The main advantage of Home is that it's the kind of song that had been done many times before, by different bands (overall, a ballad with a powerful chorus) but it's just done so well that it doesn't really matter. It has all the necessary "components" - subtle verses, good writing, and excellent, emotional chorus, and is definitely an integral point of the album. Faces, however, is the definition of minimalism - almost no use of instruments, ninety percent of the music here are the vocals, and it works as the calmest moment of the album.

I deliberately left the closing track, called December 20th, as the last one, as it deserves a kind of special treatment. It's definitely the most ambitious and original composition here, and unlike anything I have ever heard this far. Other than just progressive metal, it combines lots of different styles and ideas, perfectly changes mood throughout - starting from the cold, narrative beginning, to the monumental ending - and is a really memorable ending to the album. The ending, combining heavier riffs (among the heaviest on the album) with what sounds like choirs, gives it an incredibly dramatic feel. It's the greatest highlight of Metafiction, although I need to say that each one of the seven songs here is perfectly placed here and all of them are really good. However, there is one little complaint I have... Talking about heavier riffs, this is the only thing that doesn't work that well on the album. The album overall has a really good sound, especially the calmer parts, with a lot of depth and air, but the heavy riffs sound kind of flat, even what I'd call "cardboardish" - I know from the band line-up they have two guitars and obviously a bass guitar, but in these moments it just all melts together. Sure, it has the necessary force and punch, but just doesn't sound that good - I don't know what exactly is the reason, but it's the only significant weakness of the whole album.

One of the greatest strengths, though, are the vocals. Maciej Kosinski proves to be an excellent singer here, and he definitely has the potential to become a recognised voice in the genre. He clearly doesn't lack any necessary skills, and he sings with a lot of emotion in all the songs, really bringing them to life. He's capable of both a really calm, peaceful voice, and a really powerful, strong one - Indifferent and Falling Dream are particularly great examples of both. The album benefits a lot from his presence, and he's already joined the singers I really appreciate and who somehow stand out for me... The whole band, however, seems to work together really well and it can really be heard on the album - there's no out of place soloing and no one "stealing the show" in any song; everyone has his place here, and this album is the result. It won't start a revolution in progressive music, but it's definitely a creation of a band which really knows what they're doing. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing more from them, and they have the potential to achieve a lot in the future.