Volcanoes followed up its EP _Faults_ with an interesting combination of drum and bass in its self-recorded debut album _Heavy Hands_. The band’s sound cannot specifically be categorized, only described as a meeting of the minds between Jon Ryan and Eric Peters as one brings garage band noise and the other electronic dance rhythms. To dance or to mosh is the real question when listening to this music. Opposite sounds attract as the object of attraction inside the lyrics lures her lover into a dysfunctional relationship. Breaking up is hard to do, but the pain after is much worse as past love haunts you.
A heart is erupting with rage and when it speaks, it belts out melodramatic proclamations of a scorned lover over 11 tracks that mimic the whispers inside the mind we all try to release. With sound quality as gritty as the subject matter, the track listing is much like a show’s song line-up where most tunes carry on into the next song. Chants and echoing riffs mold the shape of this album while the pain of a heartbreaking romance curves the appetite for love. The femme fatale of the album is introduced in the track _Kingdom_ with “diamonds and champagne” in her eyes, but they are much more representative of a seductive serpent is disguise, waiting to crush you. The keyboard piano breaks the song into a melodic toe-tapper that allures you just as quickly as she did.
Voices grow to sound distorted throughout the album, perhaps to purposely foreshadow the turnout of a relationship that has taken a wrong turn after a series of twists and jerks. Drums take a backseat around track five as the bass guitar creeps in catchy beats accompanied by the keyboard that make up for the absence of words. Crowds and listeners get the chance to simply feel the rhythm of the music before the final four tracks conclude the album and relationship.
“Don’t let go of my hand, this time I can’t tell you that it’s alright,” Peters sings in the track “Let’s Die Together.” Sometimes the universe has a faltering hand placed on the swaying backbone of love. Minds become foggy as the uncertainty of what lays at the end of the road is one we must navigate to blindly. _Heavy Hands_ shows a glimpse inside a mind rattled by a ghost from an old relationship with a destructive ending.
The Volcanoes will be performing at 8 p.m. Thursday at The Blue Fugue.
