In 2001, popular and critically acclaimed Philippine hard rock/metal band Wolfgang released
Volume, a collection of songs taken from the band's four studio albums, which include three Epic albums and the band's 1994 debut album on local independent Ivory Records.
Volume is the result of a collaboration between Sony Music Entertainment Philippines and the American-based international music retail chain Tower Records. Beginning April 1, 2001,
Volume was available for sale in Tower Records outlets across the United States and in Australia. With such a rich catalog to choose from, the songs on
Volume are outstanding. Unfortunately, there is a problem. A blistering hard rock song such as the opener, "Sanctified," which contains an imaginative instrumental break, should attract international attention, but might not, as the vocals of lead singer Basti Artadi are mixed too low. "Basti Artadi" has one of the best rock voices in the world, and it's a shame his voice is hidden. This also occurred on 1997's Wurm, from which "Sanctified" was taken, and it's too bad it wasn't corrected for
Volume. Three other songs taken from Wurm also suffer from the same problem. For
Volume, Dennis Cham is credited for remastering, but there is virtually no difference between the original recordings and the sound on this album. Other songs are also plagued by murky production, including the otherwise powerful "Bought & Sold," "Weightless," and "Beast," taken from 1996's Semenelin. Songs from 1998's Atomica sound better, engineering-wise. For whatever reason, the muddied production is more obvious here than when the songs were first released, perhaps because the engineering isn't uniform throughout this album. Still, the hardcore beauty of such songs as "Atomica," "Very Free," "Man '98," and others can't be denied. ~ David Gonzales