Review Summary: Familiar fun with a pinch of progress.
Whoa, Volumes are still around?
After the tragic loss of founding member and guitarist Diego Farias and a quiet album rollout of 2021's
Happier, you'd be forgiven if you thought LA's Djent hypebeasts had decided to call it quits. Like another band I recently reviewed, Volumes are no strangers to line up instabilities and a revolving door of vocalists, yet they've held firm in spite of numerous adversities. On album number five, the hallmarks of Volumes remain wholly intact – the Vildhjärta esque riffs and air-tight rhythm section are spearheaded by a vocal duo that aren't shy about wearing their pop and RnB-sensibilities on their sleeves and I'd be remised if I didn't highlight Terry and Barr's vocals on
Mirror Touch i as being incredibly strong throughout. Listen to "Adrenaline" and tell me that it doesn't evoke rumblings of modern day Dayseeker; a massive arena-rock chorus and all.
For a band that has occasionally struggled with milquetoast lyrical choices, awkward rapping and cheap production tropes (see a good chunk of
Different Animals for reference),
Mirror Touch is much more well-rounded while simultaneously employing the best choruses and hooks of the band's career. For better or worse,
Mirror Touch is
very pop-centric and sees Terry and Barr rely far more on clean vocals than any other Volumes album. While "Sidewinder" and closer "Suffer On" hit with a massively metallic crunch that hearkens back to their debut
Via, the remainder of the album is far more reliant on clean vocals and lush soundscapes first introduced on their sophomore offering
No Sleep. "Dream" is already a solidified Volumes classic, with an infectious electronic hook and a pleasant earworm chorus that marries the best of the band’s discography in one fell swoop. Though your mileage may vary with tracks like "Bad Habit" and "California", they at the very least put both vocalists firmly in the driver's seat without ever trying to shoe-horn in half-baked turntables, breakdowns or ham-fisted technicality – it's par for the course pop djent executed well enough to keep the listener engaged.
That's not to say the band's heavier side has been shunned entirely, even if it's been significantly diluted. The aforementioned closer "Suffer On" is an excellent artillery barrage of cascading chugs that build to an emotional swell the likes of which the band has dabbled in since "Wormholes" from their debut, while "Bottom Dollar" cranks the band's signature Meshuggah grit up to eleven with solid results. Again, there's nothing here too otherworldly or adventurous, but it's presented with a level of panache that's admirable given how uncertain the band's future has looked in the last half-decade or so. So no,
Mirror Touch likely won't rock your world or alter your perception of Volumes as a whole, but its 39-minute runtime makes it a breezy listen that could've benefited from some warmer weather to complement it. Though it's hard to shake the feeling that the band may have run its course,
Mirror Touch is at the very least a fun, if at times, all too familiar listen perfectly suited for the daily commute or late-night drive.
