SPACE OF VARIATIONS – Imago

SPACE OF VARIATIONS is a metalcore combo from Ukraine who are releasing their first full-length album “Imago” on Napalm Records. The original release date in spring might not be kept for understandable reasons. As an outsider, it is difficult to imagine what is going on in the contested regions, and one can only hope that this madness will soon be over.

But here at STORMBRINGER we don’t comment on world politics, we just bake smaller rolls. As is well known, the shoemaker should stick to his last, which is why we’re taking “Imago” to heart today.

In essence, SPACE OF VARIATIONS were founded in 2009, and following touring through the Ukraine for years, disbanding in between and then re-forming, the guys were taken on their tour as the support act for JINJER. Napalm Records became aware of them, an EP was released in 2020 and now finally the first full album.

Stylistically, they move in a mix of metalcore, nu-metal, electronics and a pinch of rap. Also sometimes called “modern metal”. Whether it’s really that “modern” – we’ll see/hear.

With “Someone Else” shows you where the journey is going. Fat riffs and catchy vocals – especially in the chorus – drive into your bones. The interspersed vocal samples might have been left out, but all in all a decent opener. “Vein.mp3” immediately delivers the essence of SPACE OF VARIATIONS. As if they wanted to pack everything that is possible into one song. Driving beat, synth samples, big riff walls and a clean chorus, which turns the corner almost too cheesy . At the beginning of “Non-Human Club 2.0” following the cheerleader disco intro you feel catapulted onto any dance floor before the SOV trademarks kick in once more. These trademarks are deep, fat riffs, screams/shouts in the verses and sometimes a clean chorus. Tried on the basis of this foundation the Ukrainian quartet to make the individual numbers interesting and exciting with one or the other extra ingredient. Sometimes with a long, purely electronic part as in “DNA Molecule In A Million Of Dimensions“, sometimes by borrowing from 90s Alternative Metal as in “1M Followers“. A special treat is certainly the rap part by Alex Reed vocalist Alyona Alyona. She delivers the end of “Ultrabeat” in their native language, and what can I say, rapping in Ukrainian sounds really good.

Conclusion: The debut album by SPACE OF VARIATIONS doesn’t need to hide. Solid Metalcore fare enriched with various influences from the last decades. It doesn’t always work throughout the length of the album though, and you sometimes lose the thread in this conglomerate of influences. In autumn the band will be on tour once more with JINJER and the tracks from “Imago” are definitely a great way to warm up the crowd.