TIME MUST HAVE A STOP

A very nice debut album.

VOTUM's first album has a few of the problems typical of debuts: the sound is still not perfect, the music is still a little bit derivative, and, instrumentally, there are a few issues that have to be fixed. But in general, "Time Must Have a Stop" is a very pleasant experience.

VOTUM's sound owes a lot to another progressive-metal band from Poland: RIVERSIDE. As with the latter, the former employs techniques learned from the psychedelic masters of the 70's and fuses them with elements of heavy metal, art-rock and, at times, gothic rock. But there are differences: RIVERSIDE is even darker, the music is even less optimistic, whereas VOTUM still manages to sneak a ray of light through the somber soundscapes. VOTUM plays a much more metal style of progressive-metal, and they don't dwell as much in psychedelic passages as their Polish peers.

Another huge influence in VOTUM's music is undoubtedly PINK FLOYD, whose art is present in most every band that plays dark psychedelic rock or metal today, as is the case in another one of VOTUM's references, PORCUPINE TREE. The spacey, atmospheric, narcotic mood of Steven Wilson's music never leaves the background of this Polish band's paintings. The vocals appear to have been molded following the English's musician example. On the metal side of things, besides the usual suspects, a band we're constantly reminded of while listening to "Time Must Have a Stop" is OPETH. There's almost zero growling or death-riffs here, but the dark atmospheres and many of Mikael Akerfeldt's musical tricks are easy to be found in this debut album. VOTUM mixes all these influences in a coherent new sound that will appeal both to the progmetal fan and to the art-rock aficionado.

As I said earlier, there are a few glitches here and there. The recording is clear but the drums sound very cardboard-ish, and the drummer himself gives quite a weak performance. His fills usually sound cut, sloppy, incomplete, at times he's on the verge of destroying the flow of the music with his almost- inept cascades that have no creativity behind them. At least he's good at keeping a steady rhythm, but he seriously has to work in his fills if VOTUM plans to go further than Poland's border with him sitting on the drum seat. The rest of the musicians fare pretty well, especially both guitarists. The vocals are OK, if not brilliant.

The songs are simple yet never too-accessible. Their structures are rather normal but never uninspired. The music is very melodic and there are a few moments of pure beauty throughout the album. The atmospheres that VOTUM is able to create are very unique, and are one of the best features in this album. The melodies are good and at times memorable.

All in all, a very good debut album, worthy of much commendation. If VOTUM works their problem out for their next release, they could reach the highest level. Right now, I'm happy to give this opus 4 stars.

Impressive full-length debut by this Polish act.

Progressive metal is the name of the game for this creation; and a rather dark and ominous-sounding variety of it as well. Not metal all the way though - fragile and mellow passages have their place here - especially in the opening segments of the compositions; and breaks to calmer water ambient as well as industrial-tinged appear in most tunes.

The guitars dominates the proceedings though; and the band have opted for a massive, wall-of-sound placement of riffs and riff patterns on this release. A bit overdone according to my tastes, as details and textures tend to drown in the loud cascading guitar sounds. Synth layers melodic or majestic in scope flesh out the sonic tapestries; and a capable, powerful vocalist delivers the lyrics in an ok manner.

Personally I was most intrigued by the drum-work on this production though. Very much different in approach to what is common in the genre, his at times quirky and most times highly fluent delivery really added some nice twists to this experience.

A strong debut overall, where the main weaknesses are syrupy chorus segments at times; and the massive guitars may not be to everybody's liking.

VOTUM are a fairly new Prog-Metal band out of Poland. This is their debut and the vocals are in English. On their web-site they state that atmosphere is more important than the style of music they play. This is atmospheric Prog-Metal and I am really impressed with this record. It seems to be a concept album and it can be quite dark and heavy at times but we do get some variety. Yes I did think of fellow Poles RIVERSIDE at times and even the cover art recalls RIVERSIDE's first three albums.

"Me In The Dark" opens with laid back guitar and reserved vocals. It kicks in powerfully a minute in and riffs follow. Amazing instrumental section after 3 minutes. It settles with some atmosphere 5 minutes in. "The Pun" has this good beat with vocals and I love the guitar before 2 minutes with heavy drums.Here we go ! As they kick in before 3 minutes, and check out the drums a minute later. I like when he "lets go" vocally during this tune. Great finish and song. "Passing Scars" is heavy and atmospheric, vocals before a minute. A fair amount of keyboards on this one especially after 3 minutes. Spoken vocals follow. "Train Back Home" is a laid back tune with keys, bass, light drums, reserved vocals and some tasteful guitar. It does get fuller. Piano and some atmosphere after 3 1/2 minutes.

"The Hunt Is On" opens with strummed guitar as heavy drums and piano joins in quickly. It kicks in before a minute. This is great ! Vocals 2 minutes in as the tempo picks up. A calm before 4 minutes and then it kicks back in heavily 5 minutes in. Nice. "Away" opens with piano as reserved vocals come in. Acoustic guitar follows. Drums come in as the tempo picks up.Tasteful guitar after 3 minutes and 4 1/2 minutes in. "Look At Me Now" has this killer intro as vocals join in. Some growly vocals in this one comes and goes. A powerful tune especially before 5 minutes. "Time Must Have A Stop" opens with piano before drums and some huge bass join in. Guitar after a minute. Check out the atmosphere on this one. Some good contrasts between the heaviness and atmospheric sections. Great sound before 9 minutes, but then this whole track is incredible.

A solid 4 stars and highly recommended to Prog-Metal fans.

Sergio Leone's style:

THE GOOD: well, most of the album really! Votum is surfing on the Riverside-sad-and-angry- nu-metal trend from the cold Poland, but they are not a carbon copy. First, the vocals are (finally) not a copy of someone else. This is too good to be true; a singer with punch a la Sebastian Bach/ Paul Rarick. I suggest the second track, almost perfect with lots of atmosphere and managed anger. Goodie!

THE BAD: a tendency to slide too much into the 80's hair-metal in the second half of the album. The singer is absolutely great when he's in lower keys, but when he's soaring in the higher notes, it can get cheesy. Also, they let most of the good keyboard textures down in the second half, which is a bit of a letdown, really.

THE UGLY: the pseudo-growling that sounds more like a Pepsi belch.

I have been lucky to hear many Polish prog bands over the years, and this 2008 debut from Votum has brought another into my area of knowledge. Now, Poland isn't a country that many Western progheads would necessarily think of as being a hotbed, but over the years there have been some great bands (think SBB, Collage, Satelite to name just a few) and of course Riverside has made a huge impression on everyone. With this release, Votum deserve very much to be spoken about in the same sentence. When one looks at the CD cover the impression is one of darkness and menace, and isn't hard to imagine that the music inside is Black Metal, but instead we have one of the most atmospheric and interesting debuts from recent years that I have heard.

Yes, when they decide that the time is right they can punch out the heavy metal riffs and give us some symphonic passages that wouldn't sound out of place with Therion or Nightwish, but often it is the 'menacing threat' that takes this forward. It is simply one of the most atmospheric albums I have heard, and while there are times when it sounds more like Negură Bunget than Pink Floyd or Porcupine Tree, it is also true that all these bands have obviously had an influence. The vocals are in English, and for the most part are melodic without too much of an accent.

This isn't going to be for everyone, as it straddles so many genres and sub-genres, but I urge anyone interested in hearing great rock music, whatever label people saddle it with, to search it out. www.progrockrecords.co m or www.votumband.pl