1476 - Wildwood

1476 Wildwood cover
1476
Wildwood
Seraphim House
2012
8
My personal journey for “new music territories” and new bands/artists is like an eternal journey… sometimes you get to meet new places and discover their appealing music sounds and others “some weird sounds” are coming to you out of nowhere. More or less that’s what happened with 1476… but what exactly is this band all about?
 
Coming from the New England 1476, as their bizarre name declares, they have a personal approach on their music; music embellished with various acoustic, folk, tribal, rock, gothic, metal, progressive, experimental, atmospheric, post-rock, melodic & ambient elements. Still the dim, occult & eerie atmosphere that’s embracing their music is adding even more diversity to the final outcome. It may be one of those cases that instead of trying to describe how a band sounds like it’s better & safer to let the reader/listener draw their own conclusions by listening to the music itself. I have to say though that the masterminds behind 1476 are two guys, Neil DeRosa & Robb Kavjian, who have taken care almost everything on this album. The recordings & mixing took place at Seraphim House, Massachusetts and the mastering was done by Sean Glonek at Mastered at SRG Studios, New Jersey. The production is quite warm, dark & clear. There are also two guests on the album, Robb Kavjian who does the vocals on “Watchers” & “Good Morning, Blackbird” along with Alexandria Noel how does the narrating on “Watchers” & “Good Morning, Blackbird”, “Horse Dysphoria”, “Bohemian Spires”, “Shoreless”& “The Golden Alchemy”.
 
1467 - The Nightshide EP cover artworkAlong with the release of “Wildowood”, 1467 also released a special edition that included “The Nightshide” EP, which contains 3 songs they felt didn’t fit the album cuz’ they had their own instructive atmosphere plus an alternative version of “Good Morning, Blackbird”.
 
The 3 new songs on this EP, “Mutable: Cardinal”, “Know Thyself, Dandy” & “The Nightside” are showcasing a more atmospheric & smooth side of the band… and I have to say that’s rather absorbing as well. The overall “occult” & moody musical texture is also present here. The EP was recorded & mixed during the “Wildwood” sessions at Seraphim House, Massachusetts & mastered (again) by Sean Glonek at SRG Studios, New Jersey. The sound is clear, full & warm. Robb Kavjian (music, vocals, engineering/mixing & photos) & Alexandria Noel (layout & design) have done a great job in this EP as well. Regrettably, the special edition that’s featuring both “Wildwood” & “The Nightside” EP is not available anymore. Only the “normal” edition of “Wildwood” is still around.
 
It’s not every day that you come across a band that has its own vision for music and likes to distinct itself from others that are fond of “copying/pasting” some major bands so as to make a living. The unfortunate thing is that the latter always get more exposure and enjoy more fame than those who try to be original and have an individual music style. But you know what… I was never into that “clone thing” and still appreciate and revel more in bands that follow the hard way of musical independence at every part. 1476 is one of those bands and I’m glad I happened upon on my endless music journey. I know that they will evolve and follow their heart pathway along their musical way but isn’t that fascinating when it comes to music as an art?! It’s hard to escape 1476 as long as you enter their strange, atmospheric & mysterious colony… especially if you fancy “weird music” of any kind yourself…