Originally formed in 1993 by ex-Fu Manchu singer Patrick Brink, the band on this recording features Monster Magnet guitarist Ed Mundell, drummer Mike Amster (Nebula) and production/keyboards by Dave Catching, so you could say that VOLUME is something of a Stoner Rock supergroup
'Joy of Navigation' is the band's latest album and contains five songs of immersive psychedelic stoner. The opening track 'Mercury Pull' is a real slow burner. When it first started I thought I was listening to something by Hawkwind but the celestial petals soon unfold into a Samsara Blues Experiment like stimulant, lazily dissolving into the cosmic ether before the emotion of the song dramatically changes into a ripping, heavy rocking roller coaster.
'Mercury Pull' turns out to be the calm before an extremely fierce storm of strutting, barrel chested riffs with fuzz more or less stripped away exposing a diamond hard metallic core. This enables the album to breathe and reveals the most interesting aspect of an already thoroughly absorbing record. If you listen closely, the soloing hardly ever stops. It's either in the background like incessant chatter or posturing wildly above the mayhem, often mutated by special effects pedals.
'Joy Of Navigation (a trip through the eternal unknown)' definitely hits the perfect spot, evolving from the album 'Requesting Permission To Land' which was a musical child of its time (also an essential buy) into a modern, dynamic, sonic force.
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