Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Finnish alternative metal act Volucrine has released their fifth full-length studio album, “Chapter V: Renewal“. Built around boldly personal themes and a diverse range of metal elements, the album stretches the boundaries of modern metal while taking Volucrine’s distinctive sound to new heights. The band has never been about the heaviest riffs or most savage metal vocals alone, but rather about music that uses different styles and genres simply as a means of channeling emotions in the most effective way possible. The album is released by Inverse Records and is available to purchase here.
Founded by vocalist Jupe Velin almost two decades ago as a therapeutic project, Volucrine dives deep into introspective lyrical themes.
“On a personal level, 2024 brought a serious crisis and a series of setbacks. The only way I managed to find my feet again, even somewhat shakily, was through songwriting. It was just me, a new blank white page and an emptiness that needed to be filled with something. That gave rise to the central question behind the new album: how do you build a new life from nothing?”, primus motor Jupe Velin reflects.
The vocalist goes on to explain that none of the band’s previous albums came together as quickly or instinctively as this one:
“Each song on the album represents a different stage of the process, and its own chapter within a larger whole. It was a conscious decision to let the songs take shape without the pressure of fitting into any particular genre. That’s why I feel one hundred percent that Chapter V: Renewal is the purest and most honest Volucrine has ever been.”
The album’s lead single, title track and thematic corner stone is a track called “Renewal“.
“We all have only a limited amount of time here. People search blindly for our purpose in different places and forget that everything we have here is only on loan for a moment. Renewal is a portrayal of a person who has had to let go and start over far too often. In the process, something gets lost along the way. You become nothing but a copy of a copy, a ghost of a past life trapped in limbo. There are only two options: vanish for good or overcome the fear of the blank page,” Velin explains, and continues:
“Renewal is the album’s title track and its central pillar. It features the most prominent metalcore influences, relatively new territory for Volucrine, which come through in the screamed vocals and technical riffs. The atmosphere is heavily coercive, inspiring the album’s ‘ghostly’ cover artwork. The chorus is big and filled with cautious hope. Beneath it all is a fragile prayer to become whole again.”
The album’s many sides have already been showcased through four singles released over the past year. The release cycle began in February with the music video for “Golem“. It was followed by the groove-driven “Talk“, the melodic rock-leaning title track “Volucrine“, and “Borderline“, which dives deep into the album’s central themes.
Chapter V: Renewal – Tracklist:
01 Borderline
02 Rendered Obsolete
03 Moving Mountains
04 Volucrine
05 Golem
06 Heavy
07 Another Mile
08 Swans
09 Drift
10 The Future That Never Was
11 Renewal
12 Talk
13 The Sum Of Changes
Following the album’s release, Volucrine will return to the stage. The band’s October live dates are:
Volucrine is:
Jupe Velin – vocals
Joni Kyynäräinen – bass
Jani Aalto – drums
Marko Orava – guitar
Erik Lindroos – guitar
