VOLCANOVA – Band Of The Month – March 2022
Written by Tony Wilson on February 27, 2022
This Month the DJs votes resulted in a shortlist of 4 as 2 of the bands got equal votes. But after the shortlist voting by the DJs and public we have a clear winner – VOLCANOVA
In an alternative reality where Kyuss didn’t get their start in the sun-drenched weather of California, but in a cold barren volcanic landscape of Iceland, you would get Volcanova. Members hailing from 3 corners of this unique island of lava fields, glaciers and hot springs came together to erupt a fresh take on desert rock. Building on this style the band pay homage to classics such as Black Sabbath with big crushing doom riffs while adding virtuosic twists and turns with passages that wouldn’t go amiss on a progressive sludge album in the vein of Mastodon or Gojira. They can turn their hand to thunderous fuzzy riffs in the style of Fu Manchu or some somber moments more alike to YOB. All this coupled with a live show that would made you think that you were in a Red Fang video! In a fake mainstream world where the music industry would rather promote an Ariana Grande single over a Josh Homme release Volcanova will take you on a real and thrilling ride on record or live. There is never a dull moment with Volcanova.
Volcanova was founded in the summer of 2014 with principle song writer Samúel Ásgeirsson on guitar and vocals and after a few lineups changes the band finally settled on a winning formula with Thorsteinn Árnason of (Rock Paper Sisters) on bass and vocals and Dagur Atlason (Churchhouse Creepers) on drums and vocals.
The band found an infectious groove and togetherness that would be fitting of a band that had been playing for decades rather than years. With all the members of the band being strong vocalists with their own character, whilst also being able to pull of tight three-part harmonies, they can keep the listener engaged when they are rocking and rolling! Uplifting moments with epic guitar solos are underpinned by head banging bass grooves complemented with a tasteful use of cowbell!
And what about second and third place?
In Second place we have a tie between… Crossbones Creed & Nobro
Crossbones Creed
The band was formed in early 2014 in Sochi (Russia). The first two years the band named Crossbones, and performed mainly covers of classic, old-school Hard-Rock. The band included Konstantin Vartanov (drums), Ed Gilyazov (guitar), Max Luganchenko (bass) and Evgeny Poznyakov (vocals, guitar). The list of the members hasn’t changed since then.
Gradually, the members came to decision to create their own author’s material, aimed to an international auditory. The band begins to work on the own material, make demo recordings and perform their songs at live gigs. Style of the band may be described as mixture of hard rock, blues rock and southern rock. As far as they decided to make their own stuff, the band changes its name to Crossbones’ Creed.
Nobro
“I wanted to play this type of music but there wasn’t a lot of women who wanted to play it. I wanted to be in the most kick-ass all female band ever,” raves Kathryn McCaughey, vocalist and bassist. Inspired by the likes of Jay Reatard, The Damned and Royal Trux to name a few, NOBRO are unafraid to wear their influences on their sleeve.
With co-writes with members of METZ and Fast Friends under their belts, as well as a new EP called Sick Hustle out soon on Dine Alone Records, NOBRO are well on their way to achieving their goal. They cut their teeth on the road with bands like FIDLAR and PUP, and will be playing their biggest venues to date on their upcoming arena tour with Alexisonfire and The Distillers.
With pounding drums (McCaughey claims drummer Sarah Dion will “go down in history as one of the best drummers in the entire world”), shredding riffs from guitarist Karolane Carbonneau and bongo solos and keyboard licks from master of percussion Lisandre Bourdages – all topped with McCaughey’s confident, cocky yell and blistering bass lines – NOBRO are showing they are a rock and roll force to be reckoned with. They are not ashamed to admit that they have had their fair share of struggle, but they are resilient and tough.
They are aware that they will face skepticism as part of the omnipresent sexism in the scene they inhabit, but that only spurs them on. “We said we would do it one way, and so we made sure that we were always doing it that way.”
We The Crooked
The roots of WE THE CROOKED were initially put down at the start of 2017 under the moniker, The Crooked. Much like the band’s engrossing sound, the makeup of the group is also intriguing. Although the four piece now reside in Toronto, Canada, J.C Sandoval (lead vocals, guitar) originally hails from Costa Rica, Anthony Dell’Orso (drums) comes from Italy, Russ Shipman (bassist) originates from Switzerland, and Neelesh Vasistha (lead guitar) was born in the UK. Throughout their early years, the alternative quartet toured relentlessly throughout Canada, and in doing so, built a strong fanbase. The band set loose two EPs, The Shoebox Sessions and First Place Silver, where notable playlist features ensued, as well as support shows with the likes of Danko Jones, Pop Evil and Royal Tusk.
In 2019, The Crooked triumphantly completed their first European tour, playing shows throughout Germany and Norway. This included appearances at international festivals: Fete de la Musique and Rockstream. The high-flying alt-rockers ended the year with a series of successful tours in their homeland. Like many, the band were forced to cancel a planned, second European tour in spring 2020. With a renewed focus on their recording output, the industrious crew spent the year recording and releasing The Crooked Covers series. Following a brief hiatus at the start of the year to consider their post-pandemic future, the band regrouped under a new name: WE THE CROOKED.
The release of the group’s recent single, Villain, signaled an emphatic return for the unstoppable alt-rockers. WE THE CROOKED now storm ahead with an enthralling new single. Vocalist and guitarist, J.C Sandoval remarks: “It was a pleasure to cover the legendary Stevie Wonder. Pastime Paradise is an ever-relevant warning on the dangers of ‘over nostalgia’ and takes on a new dimension today — in the light of AR and VR technology. Both can trap us in a future ‘paradise’.”
Expect to hear all three bands lots across TotalRock in March and find out more about our previous winners if you are looking for some new band inspiration.
