AFTERGLOW

Wobbler is known for lengthy and verbose instrumental passages, the amalgamation of many classic progressive rock sounds and styles, and mediocre vocals. This description is largely accurate for their second release, which, interestingly enough for a sophomore album, consists, as I understand, of material created somewhere around a decade ago. Now while I am generally in favor of artists cutting their albums down instead of publishing every song they wrote during their sessions, this album is ludicrously short by today's standards. Then there's the matter of the arrangements themselves: It really seems like the band should have taken more time to make more coherent tracks rather than fuse together a variety of bits and pieces into two long tracks. "Hinterland" was a tad tough to digest (it is, after all, nearly half an hour long), but somehow it was easy to follow and therefore appreciate. The music here, as expected, is a thick menagerie of nearly every conceivable traditional symphonic progressive rock instrument: Guitars, violin, organ, Mellotron, and much more.

"The Haywain" The album opens with a short piece played on harpsichord and flute.

"Imperial Winter White" The first of two extended tracks that essentially make up the album, this piece has a dark, heavy introduction much in the vein of "Machine Messiah" by Yes. Heavy symphonic progressive rock thunders forward throughout this song. Unexpectedly, a gentle acoustic guitar section ensues, but it is short-lived, as more twisted tapestries of electric guitar, Mellotron, synthesizer, bass, drums, and organ take over once again. The first voice isn't heard until over seven minutes in, and that department hasn't improved any since Hinterland (in fact, I think they are worse here, since they are overly dramatic). It's strange that there are vocals at all, since this whole album is instrumental save for the few lines sung on this track. The bass work stands out in many parts, and the organ, which was noticeably underused for the first half of the track (at least compared to the previous album), gets a respectable solo. As I hinted at in my opening paragraph, this song could have benefited from some thoughtful retooling, or even being split up into several shorter, more easily absorbed pieces.

"Interlude" The title says it all- this is a place for the listener to catch his breath, since it consists of just an acoustic guitar and bass.

"In Taberna" Now it's back to frantic symphonic rock, full of manifold keyboard instruments. Overall, I think this is a prime example of the pitfalls of "trying too hard to be prog," if that makes any sense. Sure the music constantly progresses, but without any themes, anchors, or noteworthy climaxes, this piece is essentially background music (Muzak, if you will) for progressive rock lovers. I think it's fair to say that this is true about the entire album, but not more so than it is true about this giant chimera of an instrumental.

"Armoury" After a mid-tempo Medieval romp, a church organ and synthesizer conclude the brief album.