Wobbler
From Silence to Somewhere
Karisma Records
2017
Wobbler is a Norweigian band that’s been around for quite a while. Being picked up by Karisma, they now do get some serious distribution and advertising and as a result, they are heralded now, as the best thing since sliced bread. Truth be spoken, they are not bad; if your cup of tea is the super proggy era of Yes, (while ELP and King Crimson also could be considered as influences along with Gentle Giant) and maybe a small splash of the Italian more “soundtrack” oriented school in places... make up their musical canvas.
Three epic long winded composition and a short interlude make up the album and if there was reason for me to whine that would be Andreas Wettergreen Stromman Prestmo, their current singer, who sounds like a weaker, range limited mix of Anderson and Shulman and can sound a little awkward at times, as he attempts some quite lyrical passages as he inflects in a “weird” way that you’ll either love or hate. Compared to earlier Wobbler works, this feels a little more diluted and with more folk influences creeping in, which doesn’t mean that they don’t get twistedly prog and usually heavier at the same time, but nowhere near as much as they did in the past.
If you like the aforementioned bands, Wobbler surely won’t disappoint you, with their retro-inspired material, but I have a few doubts about how many takers there might be out there.
Three epic long winded composition and a short interlude make up the album and if there was reason for me to whine that would be Andreas Wettergreen Stromman Prestmo, their current singer, who sounds like a weaker, range limited mix of Anderson and Shulman and can sound a little awkward at times, as he attempts some quite lyrical passages as he inflects in a “weird” way that you’ll either love or hate. Compared to earlier Wobbler works, this feels a little more diluted and with more folk influences creeping in, which doesn’t mean that they don’t get twistedly prog and usually heavier at the same time, but nowhere near as much as they did in the past.
If you like the aforementioned bands, Wobbler surely won’t disappoint you, with their retro-inspired material, but I have a few doubts about how many takers there might be out there.