MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER

More dramatic, more energetic, and more approachable. In the beginning of November 2023 a Dutch artist Ruud DIELEN aka GLORIOUS WOLF came back to the front line in the progressive rock scene, with his third full-length album fascinatingly titled "Mysterious Traveler" filled with an atmosphere as mentioned above. This creation features alluring female vocals, dark male-voice dissection, and sharpened melodic lines but let me say that one of the most addictive elements should be a combination of powerful guitar sounds and brilliantly technical playings by Ruud.

Just at the opening of the prologue "Repentance" the audience will get immersed in his heavy guitar explosions. This first track is quite interesting due to adorable timbres and familiar rock texture. In the following "Slow Down" a good fusion of catchy melody lines and psychedelic guitar waves can entertain us. Contrary to the former part of rhythmic sound enjoyment, it sounds like he would stabilize us with slower, more sensitive melodic streams. It might be good for us to interpret such a development simply as a sort of change of mind. The startup of "The True Story" is another wonder. The deep and heavy sound footage reminds me of some homage for Hal Blaine or Wall Of Sound by Phil Spector. The pairing of guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums is also tempting. The melody lines (not so strange nor complicated) are quite appealing for every rock fan.

"Mysterious Traveler" the titled track is mystically simple, plain, and crispy along with Ruud's dreamy guitar vibes and strictly supportive drumming. Cannot understand clearly his real intention to upgrade this song's title to the latest album's theme but can guess that he would produce such a new world with tiny sound components based upon easygoing rhythm foundations. "Battlefield" involves drastically theatrical essence, like the title itself. Pretty impressive is critical sound movement performed by the electric guitar in the middle part. Such a sudden dissonance of melodic development should surprise us. What a good strategy. On the other hand, the epilogue "Beautifully Broken" is not broken but structurally elaborated. Slow darkness sounds thoughtful and heartwarming. Ruud's crying guitar sounds are indepth and passionate too. Who can avoid that his mindfulness is on the last run?

He's not saying such a difficult thing like authentic progressive rock but an acceptable image of 'rock' or 'pop', for sure.