Space Of Variations
Poisoned Art
Napalm Records
Vying with Jinjer for the title of Ukraine’s best metal band, Space Of Variations seem certain to steal the crown, and with new album Poisoned Art in their arsenal, the trophy is already being engraved with their name. Fully embracing the freedom that metalcore offers, Poisoned Art is an album that knows no boundaries, veering off the radar to include hip hop and industrial flavourings. But make no mistake; this is first and foremost a metal album and the band get straight down to business with opening track ‘Tribe’, a song so heavy the means to weigh it haven’t been invented. From here on the band continue to tighten the screws, delivering a distinctly djent brand of metal that hits the sweet spot somewhere between bombastic and ball-crushing. However, it’s the incorporation of other genres which means this album is built upon shifting sands, and with no two songs inhabiting the same sonic space, there’s little danger of things becoming stagnant. Indicative of this are the vocals flitting between English and Ukrainian, and when used like an instrument makes for emotional depth that works in sync with the music and creates a cohesive listen and in our age of fragmentation, Poisoned Art is thy cure.
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Review by Peter Dennis.