VOJD - The Outer Ocean (2018) CD

With »Goin' Under« and »Shadowline« the Swedish band Black Trip had released two classic metal albums to great critical acclaim. When drummer Jonas Wikstrand was replaced by Anders Bentell, the band, now consisting of Joseph Tholl (vocals and bass), Peter Stjärnvind (guitar) and Linus Björklund (guitar), decided to make a fresh start by changing their name to Vojd.
“With the new line-up and the new material we felt that we wanted to start a new chapter in a way,” analyzes vocalist Joseph Tholl. He adds: “I still see the new album as the third album, a follow up to Black Trip’s »Shadowline«, though this new one contains a lot of stuff we haven't tried before. The significant elements of Black Trip are recurring throughout the album, though the variety between the songs is much broader this time around, in all directions.”
The name of Vojd’s first album is »The Outer Ocean«. There is quite a big difference in sound, style and execution between Vojd and Black Trip. Vojd are much more classic rock than Black Trip ever were, and much less traditional heavy metal… “Yeah, I think you're right,” says Joseph Tholl. “And I'm glad you say it sounds different from the previous ones, change and development is very important to me. Whether it’s more classic rock, I don’t know, but It’s something different from what we’ve done before. I take inspiration from anything that has good melodies, whether it’s Swedish pop or German thrash metal doesn't matter. I mostly write songs for acoustic guitar and vocals, from there you can tell if you have a good chorus for example. It all starts with a good tune and then you choose how to present it as a band, in our case hard rock is how we mould it.”
“Breakout” is the perfect opener for an album such as »The Outer Ocean«, upbeat, catchy and very memorable … “It was actually written as an opener,” confirms Joseph Tholl, “keeping in mind how we wanted to introduce the album. It’s one of those songs that came very natural, the verse and chorus were just there from the very beginning, without any doubts.”
“Dream Machine” is the most unusual song on the record, kind of a very blues-oriented hard rock tune ... “I agree, It’s definitely the most different song on the album,” states Joseph Tholl. “I like it a lot, it adds dynamics to the record and almost works like some kind of intermission with its mystical blues/jazz vibe.”
“This album was recorded bit by bit during almost a year,” describes Joseph Tholl the actual recording process of »The Outer Ocean«. “It’s the first time we tried this technique for this band. Previous albums have been recorded in one coherent session. We recorded everything in our drummer Bentan’s studio. There were very few occasions where the whole band would be in the studio at the same time. Mostly we recorded our own parts during different occasions. It’s not an analog studio, apart from some effects and stuff. Linus did the mixing in Sound Trade Studios.”
»The Outer Ocean« sounds like a pretty mysterious album title. Joseph Tholl explains the deeper meaning behind it: “It’s meant to be a little bit cryptic and open to interpretation. It has to do with eternity and all that is too vast for the mind to conceive. In that way, I guess, you’re not supposed to understand the title. But to somehow explain it, I guess, it’s a little bit of a twist to the cosmic ocean, meaning the universe.”
Matthias Mader

1. Break Out
2. Delusions In The Sky
3. Secular Wire
4. The Outer Ocean
5. Vindicated Blues
6. On An Endless Day Of Everlasting Winter
7. Heavy Skies
8. On The Run
9. Dream Machine
10. Walked Me Under
11. To The Light

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