Volition / Juhyo – Split 3″ CD/Cassette 2011

If you were to look up “underrated extreme music from the UK” you can bet your life that, amongst the likes of London’s superb Indesinence and Scotland’s arse-tearing Bonesaw, you would find Barrow’s finest musical export: VOLITION. This excellent band has been around since 2006, and despite a split 7” with doom royalty (Unearthly Trance, no less!) and a punishing album on Total Rust records, they don’t seem to get anywhere near the amount of accolades I’d expect for a band of this calibre. Maybe it’s because their influences lie far more in early Nineties Peaceville death doom (see also Evoken) than in the likes of Saint Vitus and Pentagram. In short, their music is a fucking downer; slow, heavy and unrelenting. Not content with combining the spirit of early Anathema and the latter-day works of the mighty Corrupted, their music is characterized by dual tortured screams – low, guttural rumblings from bass player Mark Burns are counterpointed by the high pitched tortured screams of Dave Hodge (who has now left the band).

Thematically, their one song on this split release points towards apocalypse, starting as a slow dirge and gathering momentum into a gallop powered by a pummeling, repetitive kick drum (shades of the mighty WINTER, who Volition covered so well in the UT split 7”), before dissolving into the rantings of Dennis Hopper, leaving you feeling drained and filthy – the talents of none other than Bri Doom make this a sonically devastating ride.  An unpleasant way to spend ten minutes (despite the almost melodic nature of some of this track!), but a great way nevertheless, I really can’t wait for their new album. This song suggests they’ve honed their craft to perfection.

As for Juhyo’s side of this cassette, good as it is, I would damn it with the faint praise that there isn’t anything that really distinguishes it from any other noisy dark ambient track. The ticking clock that permeates the start of the track is a great idea, and the usual scenes of industrial waste are brought to mind through the waves of feedback and metallic scraping (“Eraserhead” anyone?) and as such it complements Volition’s end-time bludgeon pretty well. I suppose it takes a little more than oscillators and throbbing bass to satisfy me – that said, this is a very well crafted track that doesn’t outstay its welcome, and I did find myself playing it on repeat as the Berlin Winter set in and temperatures plummeted well below zero.

All in all, a typically excellent offering from the unique Small Doses label, and as with many of their releases, is available as a 3” CDr as well as cassette. Sparse and fitting artwork (of a nuclear submarine) adorns the cassette/CDr. While you’re at it, make sure you pick up one of the other excellent releases Small Doses has put out – Rab’Ha and Locrian are highly recommended. This will tide you over until Volition release their sophomore album, which promises to be top notch if this taster is anything to go by.

Label: Small Doses
Volition: www.volitiondoom.co.uk
Juhyo: www.myspace.com/juhyo

Scribed by: Saúl Do Caixão