SPACE OF VARIATIONS – POISONED ART

Space of Variations return with Poisoned Art, their third full length and most disciplined statement to date. Released February 13, via Napalm Records, the album reframes the band’s reputation for stylistic excess into something finer and more intentional.

“Tribe” opens with confrontation. Switching between English and Ukrainian, the band roots its existential anxiety in actual reality. The riffs lurch and lock with precision, yet the emotional core feels unstable, almost volatile. That tension defines the whole record. “Halo” pushes djent mechanics into cold terrain, pairing serrated guitars with flickering electronic textures. The chorus strains toward redemption, then undercuts it.

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The band manipulates dynamics with control. “Mayday” and “Parallel Realities” hinge in contrast, with clean vocal passages suspended over looming breakdowns. The softness is never sentimental, it simply amplifies the impact when the weight drops. “Doppelgänger” is among the album’s most direct hits, its staccato groove and electronic undercurrent framing a self lacerating internal dialogue.

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Mid album cuts “Godlike” and “Ghost Town” widen the thematic scope, interrogating faith, identity, and abandonment. “Coldheaven” folds hip-hop cadences into industrial abrasion, whilst “Back to Dirt” and “Snake Skin” lean hard into rhythmic syncopation with synthetic pulse.

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“Lies” delivers one of the record’s most exposed moments, balancing melodic restraint against a late surge of vocal rupture. “Echo” closes with atmosphere, a deeply controlled exhale after sustained impact.

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I’d be kidding myself if I said Poisoned Art isn't muscular and cinematic, but its true strength lies in its architecture. It almost seems as if Space of Variations have pulled apart all the best bits of modern metal, and placed them back together in only a way that they can.

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SCORE 9/10

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Words by LearnTwoExist

In collaboration with Headbangers Australia