Wobbler - Rites At Dawn - Review

Welcome to the world of Prog. That is the line that should serve as a warning for all those who enter the realm of Wobbler. The new album from these Norwegian "lost in time" gentlemen is nothing short of pure, unadulterated love of Prog. First things first, they are fans of Genesis, Yes, Gentle Giant and a couple of more Prog rock bands that have been instrumental in making Prog one of the most adored styles in history.

That being said, the music that Wobbler presents us with in Rites At Dawn is nothing more than a magnificent tribute. Lars Fredrik Frøislie has a voice that could be in Jon Anderson’s throat. The keyboards are reminiscent of early Yes. The Hammond keyboard that so many Prog fans like, the use of the Mellotron by Lars, they are all little precious gems that make me feel like I’m listening to a timeless album. However, to be completely honest, all of the band is quite capable, there is not one musician there who is not, in is own right, a master at what they do. Still, it is the keyboards that take us into a different world.

Rites At Dawn is a voyage through the wormhole that takes us to the early 70’s, late 60’s. Each music taking us through different places and emotions while keeping us completely calm. For example, the track Lá Bealtaine gives us that wonderful felling of being introduced to some magical, calm forest. The guitar work, along with the drums, gives us a peaceful scenery, while the keyboards are the ones that set the mood for that feeling that all Prog lovers look for: the mystery hidden in each track.

The entire album stays with you for days. There is not a single bad track in Rites At Dawn, but there is one magnificent track that must be acknowledged. In Orbit is a voyage through time and space. Right about the start of the 6th minute you're transported to a psychedelic planet made of keyboard melodies that make you feel like you're in the 60's or 70's while flying high, bound by nothing, capable of dreaming of everything... if you get the idea...

I recommend this album to anyone who likes to sit in the grass, in the sun, listening to something that feels out of this world, out of this time, a beautiful album, with stunning passages, with a song that will remain immortal for me. Yes, In Orbit is that damn good.

8/10

Limp Bizkit - Gold Cobra - Review

It is soooo hard to review Limp Bizkit, mainly because most of us thought that one or two musics (even an whole album) are pretty damn good when we were younger. Hell, I even know a couple of metalheads who claim to hate them, even though every now and then their music pops up in their Last.fm profiles, their mix-cd’s in cars and in their Mp3 players… face it, Limp Bizkit is a guilty pleasure for a lot of people. Having said that…

This will not be a long review, mainly because there is not much to say about this piece of “work” by Limp Bizkit. Gold Cobra is an average album by their standards. We get DJ’s, we get rapping, we get the same guitar and bass sound we always got and we get the same Fred Durst we ever got over the years.
Here is the thing that bugs me. We’re in 2012 and these are guys are playing the same thing they played over, and over, and over again between 1998 and 2002. Fred Durst is still screaming into the microphone that he “doesen’t give a fuck”, he is still talking about shotguns being in his neighborhood, despite probably living in a mansion in the richest part of whatever town he is living in.

It gets boring. There is nothing new in this album. I wish I had something better to say, something more substantial, but the Limp Bizkit attitude died too long ago for anyone to care, and their music did not evolve in the slightest. Who cares if Wes Borland is back? Did he brought anything new? No, he brought the old Limp Bizkit back.

My advice? If you want to listen to Limp Bizkit, stick to the classics (yeah, I just used the word classics when talking about LP). This album is a waste of time, not because it is bad, but because it is completely unnecessary and boring. Average at best. Only die-hard fans (about 12 of them) will be interested enough not to go listen to the old tracks after hearing these.
Not recommended.

4/10

Ulver - Wars of the Roses - Review

Are Ulver still a black/avant gardwhatever metal band? Not really. This is not metal in the sense that will make metalheads pee their pants. It won’t make anyone headbang and it certainly won’t make anyone crave for a mosh pit. But still… there is something of that dark environment in Wars of the Roses.

First things first. Ulver have changed into an almost post-rock sound in this album, while making it accessible to listen to. They were already at the top of the experimental, non-conventional musical world in metal. The next step? Make it confusing. Is it dark? Yes it is. Is it oppressive in the ambient black-metal kind of way? No, it's surprisingly light in sound and dark in the atmosphere that it portrays.

Listening to this album, i found myself thinking that many of the sounds in it could be found in such different bands as Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues (Stone Angels is almost a tribute to spoken-word Moody Blues), Röyksopp (with the eletronic sounds hovering behind so many of these songs) and even a pinch of Sigur Rós.

Kristoffer Rygg does an amazing job with the clean vocals here, there is absolutely nothing i can say of bad from him. As stupid as it may seem, his voice actually soars above everything else, while at the same time never intruding on the actual music being played.

Listeners of pleasantly melancholic tones underneath and an ethereal vibe of a past in metal will no doubt like this. My favorites are by far Norwegian Gothic that actually reminds me of a cross between an 80's ambient prog rock and a movie soundtrack, and September IV, a music that has such a beautiful ethereal sound that results in being quite uplifting, only to evolve into a frenetic sound of prog-rock as time passes.

Give the album a couple of tries, there are too many layers in this wonderful work to dismiss it after just 3 tries.

I recommend it.

10/10

Journey - Eclipse - Review

Would you look at that? The dinossaurs are alive and kicking!!!
Journey come back from wherever they were hiding their good melodic rock to present us with a kick-ass awesome album. Guess what, they actually sound like a band who are not ashamed of their past. There are some hints at long lost years in the vocals and in some melodies. The thing is that they are writing awesome rock & roll, with awesome riffs… and amazing guitar solos.
At times the band actually seems happy to fool around with progressive rock of the 70’s. Trust me… this is a big deal for these guys. 

Just take a look at these songs, Edge Of The Moment is an awesome song, what really gets me going about it is the vocals and the awesome guitar solo. The chorus is just, just pure melodic rock awesomness! Chain Of Love has a that 70’s progressive light rock sound I already mentioned, but with a modern rock twist. Tantra is just a an old-school balad with those magnificent guitars I already mentioned. Resonate, another good ballad but with an awesome groove to it. She’s a Mistery is the low point of the album, its pretty damn boring that actually ends with good rock & roll, still… not enough. Human Feel is 6.43 minutes of awesomeness. Another low point is To Whom It May Concern, a poor sappy ballad that should get those old Journey fans really happy. I hate it. The album ends with Venus, a prog rock anthem of guitar, drums and keyboards.
Veredict! A very good Melodic Rock album, with some really cool musics. The vocals are cool, the guitars are awesome. Good for new and old Journey fans!

7/10