SPACE OF VARIATIONS – Poisoned Art

vote
7.0

• Bands:
  SPACE OF VARIATIONS
• Duration: 00:39:04
• Available from: 02/13/2026
• Label:

• Napalm Records

Streaming not yet available

A good album of melodic modern metalcore, where the only particularity is given by the geographical origin of the band: with a lapidary judgment we could thus dismiss the new effort of the Ukrainians Space Of Variations, but it would be a somewhat ungenerous synthesis towards a formation whose main limit is that of moving on particularly crowded terrain, where to emerge you need the classic 'extra gear'.
Tracks like the opener “Tribe” or “Halo” fully show the intent of the Vinnytsya quartet, characterized by a contamination of genres (nu metal riffs, metalcore breakdowns, electronic loops, scream/rap/urban pop vocals and even angelic voices…) in a tour of the world that starts from Bring Me The Horizon and reaches Solence via I Prevail and Annisokay: a formula already heard but which works, thanks above all to the choruses winning songs from the singer (with the peculiarity of some passages in the native language in the opening track) and an above average melodic taste.

Even without the omnipresent Jordan Fish (former Bring Me The Horizon keyboardist now taken on as the guiding spirit of the genre) everything runs like clockwork, from the late Architects-style catch-all melodies of “Parallel Realities” to the dance contaminations of “Doppelgänger” and “Ghost Town” (perfect to add to the list of 'for fans of' also Wargasm and Enter Shikari), without forgetting the hip-hop and nu metal hooks of “Coldheaven”.
Faithful to their moniker, Space Of Variations love to shuffle their cards on the table, even if not all hands are winners: at the end “Back To Dirt” and “Shake Sin” respectively pump EDM synths and some more djent-like passages, but without the caciarona genius of Electric Callboy or the monstrous technique of compatriots Jinjier, while “Lies” floats on airy melodies without ever really taking flight, and “Echo” is nothing more than a short decompression outro.

Overall however, despite a somewhat waning ending, “Poisoned Art” remains a good blend of the most fashionable sounds nowadays, confirming Space Of Variations as an excellent supporting group for the names mentioned above.