Voyager
V
IAV Records
2014
Voyager is a metal band from down under which has been on the go for almost 15 years. “V” is their fifth album – 3 years after their previous “The Meaning of I”. Voyager has built a strong fan base over the years on their homeland and in Europe too.
The music style they have established over the years and with every new album, it is based on the one hand traditional prog/power metal forms and on the other on the modern, groovy (djent if you prefer), melodic pop-metal side. It’s a weird music amalgam that it can bring on board fans from both metal camps… even though I believe that the modern ones will fancy it better. The album has a very balanced & punchy production which has been taken care by the band and Matthew Templeman, who also did the mixing. The mastering was done by Simon Struthers.
As a more traditional metal guy, I’ll say that albeit Voyager has blended quite well all those metal elements… they are certain times were they do not sit well and others where they truly stunning. I guess that’s due to the right dosology of each elements… but then again there’s not and it cannot be a specific formula for this. Thus having said, I must also say that the performances are superb… and after a long time Voyager is a band where you can actually enjoy the drummer and bassist playing and not just following the others…
“V” is a very good album… it brings together two worlds that without being that far away – they are not that close either – they do share numerous same portions/features. Personally I would be pleased more if “V” didn’t have so many modern-djent features but that’s my own perspective. Their vocal lines are good too… but they need to be more memorable in some cases. That’s something that djent music lacks totally…
PS: Damn “(To) The Morning Light” still sounds as awesome as it did back in the day, on their debut! Even if it’s re-recorded now with a much better production.
The music style they have established over the years and with every new album, it is based on the one hand traditional prog/power metal forms and on the other on the modern, groovy (djent if you prefer), melodic pop-metal side. It’s a weird music amalgam that it can bring on board fans from both metal camps… even though I believe that the modern ones will fancy it better. The album has a very balanced & punchy production which has been taken care by the band and Matthew Templeman, who also did the mixing. The mastering was done by Simon Struthers.
As a more traditional metal guy, I’ll say that albeit Voyager has blended quite well all those metal elements… they are certain times were they do not sit well and others where they truly stunning. I guess that’s due to the right dosology of each elements… but then again there’s not and it cannot be a specific formula for this. Thus having said, I must also say that the performances are superb… and after a long time Voyager is a band where you can actually enjoy the drummer and bassist playing and not just following the others…
“V” is a very good album… it brings together two worlds that without being that far away – they are not that close either – they do share numerous same portions/features. Personally I would be pleased more if “V” didn’t have so many modern-djent features but that’s my own perspective. Their vocal lines are good too… but they need to be more memorable in some cases. That’s something that djent music lacks totally…
PS: Damn “(To) The Morning Light” still sounds as awesome as it did back in the day, on their debut! Even if it’s re-recorded now with a much better production.