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Wobbler - Afterglow CD (album) cover

AFTERGLOW

Wobbler

 

Symphonic Prog

3.84 | 415 ratings

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patrickq
Prog Reviewer
3 stars It's tough to figure out whether Afterglow is a bona fide album or a stopgap release.

According to Wobbler's bandcamp page, the music and lyrics were written ten years before Afterglow was released in 2009. I find that interesting because this Oslovian quintet evidently put the production of this album on hold to create their debut album, Hinterland, in 2005. Some have interpreted the timeline as an indication that Afterglow is a collection of cast-off songs from a group that was otherwise unable to assemble a sophomore album.

Afterglow is comprised of two longer pieces (one fifteen minutes, one thirteen) interleaved among three shorter tunes. Some fans see the total running time (under 35 minutes) as another indication that this is an odds-and-sods affair, especially given that Hinterland was nearly an hour long.

Stylistically, Afterglow is all over the place, which is probably why I feel this album should be classified as "neo-prog." "Imperial Winter White," one of the two longer tracks, is a good illustration. It begins with a heavy-prog feel à la "Machine Messiah" through the first two minutes, then moves on to a more pastoral section via a bit of King Crimson. Lots of syncopation throughout, with the bass cranked up. At four minutes this gives way to a solo acoustic guitar, but in less than a minute, we're back in heavy, full-band territory. Then a "dry-ice" section, more heavy prog, this time more symphonic, and at around 7:20, a brief vocal section starts, reminiscent of Van der Graaf Generator. Then the band kicks back in. I'd be lying if I said there weren't a few seconds of disco guitar beginning at 8:23. Hammond solo, brief bass-guitar breaks, Mellotron strings, realistic flute. Then a nice groove kicks in around 9:48. Arpeggios, not solos - - this section feels like the backing to a vocal verse. A bit of noodling begins at 10:45: first flute, then electric guitar. Then a change in feel, followed by a change in rhythm, all signaling a new section, which is like the "Willow Farm" section of "Supper's Ready" sung by a progressive-metal vocalist. A false sectional ending at 12:00 is followed by one more verse, and at 12:39, a transition: descending organ chords over what feels like a ritardando. The new section is softer, slower, with flute and violin over piano - - and at 13:26 we've returned to the heavy, sinister, "Machine Messiah" section. My son says this sounds like a mix of older Genesis and Metallica. The final half-minute, starting around 14:30, is an appropriately bombastic send-off. The thirteen-minute "In Taberna" is an entirely different song cut from the entirely same stock.

And then there are the short pieces. Afterglow opens with the rustic "The Haywain," a deceptively nice little number which prepares not the listener for the heaviness of "Imperial Winter White." "Interlude" is a pensive solo acoustic-guitar piece bridging the two long pieces; and "Armoury" sounds like a march for mechanical toy men in a mad inventor's workshop - - for the first two minutes. Then a pipe organ takes over, and the song devolves into white noise and a few fading synth notes, finishing kind of like Fish Out of Water by Chris Squire.

In certain respects, Afterglow does in fact seem like a stopgap album, but not a makeshift one. It has a consistent sound throughout, and although the short pieces are of styles very different from the long pieces, the listener is prepared for stylistic deviance partway through the second track.

Afterglow is evidently intended for fans of a wide variety of subgenres of 1970s progressive rock. There's plenty of prog-folk, symphonic, and heavy-prog content, and the whole package seems to fit the definition of "eclectic prog," whatever that means. But because it so self-consciously checks off so many boxes, Afterglow is a neo-prog record, even if it doesn't sound like Marillion.

Afterglow is a solid album, and a good indication of the direction in which Wobbler would head; it's practically a blueprint for the opening number of Silence to Somewhere.

patrickq | 3/5 |

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