HINTERLAND

One of the secret ingredients to compose a credible symphonic prog album in the decades following the 70's seems to be to go "retro all the way", meaning not only by doing Prog compositions, but also by using vintage equipment, real instruments, flutes, old dusty organs and a vintage production, creating that exact warm early 70's sound. At least, that seems to be what turns me on.

Wobbler shares this dedicated "full retro" approach with the likes of Anglagard, Sinkadus and, more recently, Diagonal and Astra. Hinterland sounds like a lost Genesis album, recorded inbetween Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot. The tracks are long and adventurous, and while instantly accessible, they will ripen with age, when they reveal their intricate qualities layer by layer. The third track is a good one to sample, it's somewhat more aggressive and tighter, and better recognisable due to the main theme that keeps returning throughout the song.

Despite all my references to Genesis, the music of Wobbler can not be traced back to just one band. At times they also sound like Camel, Gentle Giant or VDGG. With their own Scandinavian melancholic touch added on top, they created an album that never sounds like a clone or copy of anyone else. It's one of the reasons why it works really.

One negative point is the vocals. Just like Anglagard, Wobbler do no excel at that. Luckily, the album is mainly instrumental and the sparse vocals are surely never off-putting. Still, more dynamic vocals could have made the difference between 4 and 5 stars here.

Hinterland sounds every bit as good as Hybris to me. I'd say it suits my taste even better because it has a more organic and spontaneous flow then the meticulously structured approach of Anglagard. Highly recommended, at least if you have no qualms with vintage sounding Prog anno 2005. Some people may have no need for it, but if it creates a tasteful album such as this one, I'm perfectly happy with it.