Votum – Metafiction (2010)

As soon as we saw that Votum’s second full-length album was promoted for fans of Opeth, Anathema and Porcupine Tree, we immediately took out the CD from its packaging and started listening to this promising release. To our surprise, Votum actually delivers on the promise of being compared to the previously mentioned legendary bands.

Hailing from Poland, Votum has been around since 2002 and (from what we have heard) has been evolving from Heavy Metal into the mystical genre of Progressive Metal/Rock in the last years. We immediately identify with Votum’s music since it’s well crafted and atmospheric enough to draw our attention away from whatever else we are doing while reviewing music (playing MW2 mostly).

With seven songs and over 44 minutes of epicness, “Metafiction” delivers in every single level from Prog metal/rock fans. The song structures are very well crafted and feature moments that allow all aspects of the band’s sound to shine. We have catchy heavy riffing paired with aggressive vocals (“Stranger than Fiction”), we also have dreamy ethereal keyboard-drive atmosphere with cool clean vocal melodies (“Faces”), and epic compositions that last over 9 minutes and feature a mixture of all the band’s signature elements (“Falling Dream” and “December 20th”).

The highlight of Votum’s sound is the signature vocals of Maciej Kosinski. He is able to carry the whole emotional aspect of the band’s music into a whole new dimension by delivering a very solid vocal performance. Just like Opeth and Anathema rely on their singer to bring their magical music into a whole new level, Votum does the same with Maciej performance.

The guitar work on “Metafiction” is also another thing that makes this band (and the album) stand out. There are countless Progressive sections that many bands would envy, and the ‘simple’ distorted riffs are catchy enough to be remembered after the album is over. There are also plenty of guitar solos (like on “Glassy Essence”) that remind us of Anathema’s best work.

While Votum does sound like other bands, they do have their own unique sound that will surely make them excel in the genre and hopefully get more recognition in the future. We can’t really seem to find anything wrong with “Metafiction” since this album is as close to perfection as we could imagine. If you are a fan of Progressive Metal/Rock, you should definitely go and get this release since it’s one of the few ‘must have’ albums of 2010.

Release: August 3rd, 2010

Country: Poland