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Formed in 1993 by former Fu Manchu frontman Patrick Brink, VOLUME has thrived on an ever-changing lineup of collaborators.
On this latest EP, Joy of Navigation (A Trip Through the Eternal Unknown), the group brings together a powerhouse lineup of stoner rock talent: Monster Magnet’s guitar wizard Ed Mundell delivering searing lead riffs, drummer Mike Amster (of Nebula and Spoon Benders fame) laying down a thunderous beat, and legendary producer Dave Catching infusing his signature magic on the organ at the iconic Rancho de la Luna studio.
VOLUME only knows one way to play: loud, fierce, and fucking loud. From the very first track of this EP, we’re hit with a veritable sonic avalanche. It’s a wild fusion of stoner rock’s crushing heaviness, garage rock’s foaming-at-the-mouth rawness and energy, and desert rock’s sprawling atmospheres.
While two of the five tracks – “Mercury” and “Golden” – quiet things down a bit and don’t rely as much on sheer force, for the most part, this album is aimed to rock as hard as possible. And we love it for that.
The title track detonates through your speakers, pulling us into a world where chaos reigns supreme, and the music is a physical force that rattles your bones. There’s an exhilarating sense of destruction woven into every riff and groove.
Guitars, drenched in fuzz and distortion, grind like tectonic plates, shaking the foundation of the title track. You can feel the joy the band takes in tearing things down. These are the moments where the music feels like it’s blissfully dismantling the world around you, one thunderous chord at a time.
But beneath the chaos, there’s a mastery of craft. The album’s heart beats with a desert rock pulse as tracks like “Heavy” swirl with hypnotic rhythms, evoking the vast, endless horizons of scorched earth. The dry and expansive echoing reverb makes the listener feel like they’re hurtling across a barren wasteland at full throttle, wind blasting in their face, and the volume cranked up.
And then there’s the spacey side—the moments where “Mercury” lifts off and takes you to the outer reaches. “Mercury” is where the album drifts into the cosmos, bathing the listener in ethereal soundscapes and weirdo spoken word poetry. In these quiet moments, you get a brief reprieve from the storm, only to be slammed back into oblivion by the next wave of distortion and feedback.
What makes VOLUME’s Joy of Navigation (A Trip Through the Eternal Unknown) truly special is its ability to balance the sheer force of destruction with a sense of liberation. This is loud, unapologetic music designed to tear down walls, both real and imagined. But in that destruction, there’s joy, as the EP’s title implies. There’s freedom. It’s music that revels in its own loudness, embracing the bedlam and inviting you to lose yourself in the noise.
For fans of stoner rock, desert rock, and garage rock alike, Volume’s new EP is a masterclass in how to wield destruction as an art form. It’s a celebration of the raw power of heavy music, where every note feels like an act of rebellion and every song a wrecking ball aimed straight at the soul.
Turn it up. Let it destroy you.
This review was written by Nick, who lives, writes, and worships music in Tennessee. Nick runs The Third Eye, a psychedelic rock blog, and has also contributed to Petal Motel, Monster Riff, and Clean & Sober Stoner.
Vinyl pre-order of Joy of Navigation (A Trip Through the Eternal Unknown) is available here.
Release date: November 1, 2024
Label: Golden Robot (digital) / Kozmik Artifactz (vinyl)
Genre(s): Stoner, desert rock
Find VOLUME: Bandcamp | X | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
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