VOLUMES - Mirror Touch
- Samuel Stevens
- Dec 9
- 3 min read
Updated: 7 hours ago
Fifteen years into their career, VOLUMES sound anything but tired. If anything, Mirror Touch feels like a band staring directly at its own reflection—scars, triumphs, contradictions and all—and deciding to push forward with renewed clarity and purpose. Out December 12, 2025, via Fearless Records, the Los Angeles quartet’s fifth full-length album is both a culmination of everything they’ve been building toward and a confident step into new emotional and sonic territory.
Since emerging with Via in 2011, VOLUMES have quietly but consistently carved out a lane that belongs solely to them. Their blend of polyrhythmic prog metal, hardcore aggression, and left-field experimentation has influenced a generation, even as trends shifted around them. With over 167 million U.S. streams, critical acclaim, and a fiercely loyal fanbase, Mirror Touch feels less like a comeback and more like a reckoning—an album that understands its legacy without being trapped by it.
From the opening moments of “Sidewinder,” VOLUMES make their intentions painfully clear. The track detonates with angular riffing, punishing low end, and the unmistakable chemistry between vocalists Michael Barr and Myke Terry. Barr’s description of the song as “an unapologetic hate letter to a world gone mad” is no exaggeration. There’s no false hope here—only bile, frustration, and a visceral sense of collapse. It’s a bruising opener that immediately reestablishes VOLUMES as a band still willing to bare its teeth.
“Bottom Dollar” and “Bad Habit” follow, showcasing the album’s defining strength: contrast. Where the former leans into thick grooves and serrated edges, it also interweaves rap and hip-hop influences with their core progressive metal sound. “Bad Habit” swerves hard into another unexpected territory. Trading screams for clean vocals, layered synths, and an almost hypnotic melodic structure, the track is one of the band’s boldest risks to date—and one of its biggest payoffs. It’s an alt-metal gem that proves VOLUMES’ songwriting has matured without losing its bite.
“California” taps into a familiar VOLUMES theme—identity shaped by environment—but does so with a newfound sense of restraint. The song breathes, allowing its chilling atmosphere and subtle tension to do the heavy lifting.
The album's fifth track, “Adrenaline,” pushes deeper into the album’s emotional core, weaving an uneasy sadness and profound vulnerability into tightly wound compositions. Meanwhile, the pair of songs “Stitch” and “S.O.A.P.” snap back with ferocity, delivering the kind of kinetic energy that has made VOLUMES a staple of sold-out rooms for over a decade.
One of Mirror Touch’s most striking moments comes with “Dream,” a track that leans heavily into mood and texture. It’s haunting, introspective, and oddly beautiful, blending metal with components of pop music—proof that VOLUMES’ sonic assault is just as effective when it whispers as when it screams. “Worth It” builds on that emotional weight, offering a sense of reflection that feels earned rather than forced.
The album closes with “Suffer On,” featuring both Black Sheep Wall vocalist Brandon Gillichbauer and ex-Black Sheep Wall vocalist Trae Malone, and it’s an appropriately devastating finale. Crushing, oppressive, and unrelenting, the collaboration feels like VOLUMES staring into the abyss and daring it to blink first. It’s a reminder of the band’s hardcore roots and their continued ability to sound absolutely feral when they choose to.
Production-wise, Mirror Touch is massive without being over-polished. The riffs hit hard, the rhythm section is airtight, and the dual-vocal approach—featuring both vocalists doing screams and cleans—remains one of the most compelling in modern heavy music. Michael Barr and Myke Terry’s voices don’t compete—they collide, complement, and elevate each other, forming the album’s emotional backbone.
Ultimately, Mirror Touch feels like the sound of a band that has survived the long haul. It acknowledges the past—Via, No Sleep, Different Animals, Happier?—while refusing to coast on nostalgia. Instead, VOLUMES double down on growth, experimentation, and honesty. This latest album from the metal greats is a nod to where they’ve been while confidently charting where they’re going next.
Against all odds, VOLUMES are still here—and Mirror Touch proves they’re not just surviving. They’re thriving.
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