VOYAGER: V (PROGRESSIVE METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Voyager is a band from Australia that presents its fifth album, soberly entitled "V", which was created following a successful crowdfunding. The combo is based around Daniel Estrin who is its main composer, singer and keyboardist and the last founding member of the current line-up.

Historically, Voyager is first and foremost a metal band. But on this album, the Australians experiment with new sound tracks that bring them closer at times to rock and progressive metal bands. The strength of each track lies above all in its skilfully arrangements and orchestrations, between modern electro and more ambient passages. The music is both complex and bellicose with structures that are not always easy to assimilate during the first listening. The strength of 'V' lies in its great diversity, which highlights a great duality between a complex musical approach and a subtle melodic catchphrase.

Voyager therefore knows how to be progressive in its own way, like in an impressive "Peacekeeper" who will need time before being tamed, offering a style located between Pink Floyd and Anathema. Other heavier songs with fast tempo changes and djent and metalcore flavours will take you on a journey through the genres like "Hyperventilating", a catchy and modern title with some atmospheric touches of the band's own and an oriental break that will remind you of combos like Orphaned Land or Myrath.

"Orpheus" and "The Domination Game" form the darker heart of the record, especially the first one and its passage close to a Leprous (with a vocal duel performed by the bass player Alex Canion). The musicians go even further on "It's a Wonder" while breaking with a surprising central hyphenation reminiscent of Opeth.

On the other hand, the album also offers simpler elements like "Breaking Down" or the sweet progressive "A Beautiful Mistake" (enriched by vocal guests Daniel Tompkins and Zemyna Kuliukas) which offer many more surprises than it seems after a first listening. Finally for the coda of this opus, the combo takes us far with the delicious combination "Summer Always Come Again" (and its absolutely prodigious piano ballad) / "Seasons of Age".

This fifth production of Voyager encloses so much wealth that it gains in strength and surprises each time it is listened. Paradoxically, its strength is its weakness, since it will require many listening sessions before it can be fully revealed. - Official website

VOYAGER

V

AUTRE LABEL

PROGRESSIVE METAL