HINTERLAND

Early this year a befriended proghead told me the xciting news that the keyboardplayer from Norwegian band White Willow had just founded his own band and it was expected to be Mellotron-drenched! Wow, I thought, let's wait and hear! This weekend we had our annual progrock meeting with the Background Magazine reviewers and finally I got the opportunity to listen to the Wobbler album. The first composition "Hinterland" (almost half an hour) is a tribute to the Seventies symphonic rock dinosaur sound with lots of musical parts that are obvious derived from YES, GENESIS, GENTLE GIANT and Keith Emerson. And I trace also strong echoes from ANEKDOTEN and ANGLAGARD. The whole album is layered with vintage keyboards as the Mellotron, Moog synthesizer and Hammond organ, this always sounds very pleasant to me. But I also notice that the vocals are mediocre and at some moments the compositions lack direction or tend to sound too longwinding. I won't nail Wobbler as just a derivative, I won't hail them as an excellent addition, for me this is a good album, no more or less, just enjoy the wonderful vintage sound.