Band:	Vokonis
Album:	Odyssey
Style:	Progressive rock, Stoner metal
Release date:	May 2021

01. Rebellion
02. Odyssey
03. Blackened Wings
04. Azure
05. Hollow Waters
06. Through The Depths

It's all well and good wearing your influences loud and proud in your music, but you still need to be able to write interesting songs; thankfully, that's not a challenge to Vokonis.

Odyssey is the fourth album from fledgling Swedish progressive stoner outfit Vokonis, and whilst I haven't heard their previous albums to see how their sound has matured, at this stage of their career, it's still easy to draw comparisons to a range of stoner/sludge metal bands. However, that's not surprising, as stoner metal is as prone as any metal subgenre to unoriginality; nevertheless, bands are still able to shine within the genre by taking their influences and crafting songs that are sufficiently engaging as to rise above their inspirations. I find myself thinking of a different band with nearly every song on Odyssey, but they all manage to feel unified by Vokonis's own songwriting skills, and as a result the album flourishes.

There's three vocal styles employed on Odyssey; bassist Jonte Johansson alternates between classic psychedelic, hazy cleans and harsh roars, whilst guitarist Simon Ohlsson contributes shouty vocals in a lower register. That lower register overlaps almost perfectly with that of Troy Sanders, and probably the most obvious influence on Vokonis based on the sound of Odyssey is Mastodon. The Sanders-esque yells and Hinds-esque contorted guitar work highlight this throughout, but it comes through most clearly on the middle pair of tracks, "Blackened Wings" and "Azure". "Blackened Wings" must be a song that was cut from Blood Mountain, before being discovered and resurrected 15 years later by Vokonis; the riffs, the choppy rhythms, the vocals in the verses are unmissably similar to those on Blood Mountain. It's not as egregious on "Azure", but the shadow of Mastodon still hovers over this song.

Mercifully, outside of these two songs, the other references to more established bands feel more like tributes and less like plagiarism. Odyssey is split into two trios of songs: three short, rambunctious tracks and three lengthier, proggier journeys. The last of the short songs aside from the duo already covered in the previous paragraph is opener "Rebellion", which has a driving energy that brings Clutch and High On Fire to mind. This track does a great job of highlighting how well Vokonis trade off the different vocal styles; the Troy Sanders/Neil Fallon-style barks go well on the chuggy verse riffs, whilst the lighter cleans soar over the technical guitar work in the chorus, with the harsh rasps allowing the band to 'go to 11', as it were, in particularly intense moments. "Rebellion" is a strong opener; whilst you might find yourself thinking of other bands, it's not as glaring as on "Blackened Wings", and the energy and quality of the riffs here allow Vokonis to make a powerful initial impact.

However, Vokonis arguably shine brighter on the proggier songs. The first of these on the album, the title track, introduces a special guest on the album; ex-Opeth keyboardist Per Wiberg makes some valuable contributions across the longer songs, with the use of Mellotron infusing a 70s prog rock vibe in certain moments (interestingly, Odyssey dropped only a week before Wiberg's latest solo record). With the lighter tone on "Odyssey", Vokonis bring something of The Sword to the table, particularly with some key vocal refrains. "Odyssey" is a really enjoyable proggy venture, but the crowning achievement on Odyssey is 13-minute closer "Through The Depths". There's a hint of Elder here, but "Through The Depths" is an achievement that Vokonis can claim for themselves; the well-paced progression of this song from a light intro, through heavier, sludgier stretches before reaching an epic instrumental second half with exhilarating work on both the guitar and keyboards is utterly engrossing, ensuring that Odyssey ends on a truly high note.

Based off of Odyssey, Vokonis have the potential to become a significant player in the prog/stoner field; when it comes together in its best moments, the record is enthralling, with "Through The Depths" sounding fantastic. I think they could still do with distancing themselves slightly further from some more established bands in the subgenre, as I feel that "Blackened Wings" is too indebted to Mastodon to stand by itself; however, all the groundwork is there for them to make a really fine album once they work that out.