Mittwoch, 26. Februar 2014

Wander - Mourning (2014)

First of all - please don't wonder.
This is my first ever blog. I'm not very familiar with blogging and that kind of stuff at all.

The first one I'd like to introduce you to, is a band called WanderI found their album Mourning by accident when I was looking for some new music on bandcamp.

Wander is a US based post-rock / shoegaze band from Oakland. Before Mourning in January 2014, they already released Short Story Collection in January 2013.


Mourning is a very special album to me. Already after listening to the first 30 seconds of the intro song "Calamity", I knew I have to love this album. I haven't heard that fast-paced, catchy and powerful post-rock for a long time. This song is very progressive from the beginning until the end. It beats the shit out of you in a beautiful way and makes you wanna drive fast in your car (oh yes!).
The second track on the album is called "Youth". It's a more down-tempo, well arranged, but - for my taste - pretty common post-rock song that starts very calm and ends up with mighty guitar walls. It makes you settle down a little before the third song "Soar" kicks you back on the German Autobahn.
"Soar" is very progressive and vivid. I love the drumming and all that guitar tinsel on it. The only negative thing about this song is: it's over before it started.
While you are in the process of listening, probably you won't even recognize that the next song already started.
To me, "Soar" and "Oblivion" belong together, both rhythm and melody have the same intensity, pace and pitch. The riff on the beginning of the song (which also is repeated a couple of times) works perfectly as an interlude from the prior track. The drum rolls let even the the slow and quiet parts sound fast.
"Farewell" is again the more typical post-rock song. It's slow, starts calm and rises up to a huge climax. The band somehow made it to combine desolate verses with a quite cheery chorus. This works pretty well.
Following "Valor" will be haunting you after listening to it a couple of times. It's strewn with fast tom-tom rolls and very catchy choruses. That little gimmick in the second part of the chorus (when the band stops for one bar and only one guitar plays - and then they all come back together) always makes me head-bang - even when I'm at work and people can see me. Good habit.
The final track "Mourning" which the whole album is named after, truly is a 15 minutes epic.
It's peppered with beautifully sad and festive themes, a lot of reverb, delay and shimmer.
Nice arrangements, lots of ups and downs make this song interesting despite its length. Post-rock listeners among you readers are used to that anyway :)

With the final minute of the last song, the big party is over. The remainder of guests slowly starts the way back home completely boozed. Then you switch off the light.

All together, this album isn't original. But this is not what I expect an album to be. It's a successful mixture of post-rock, shoegaze and heavy drumming. There aren't many albums that are both powerful and fast-paced just like this one. This makes it special to me.

But why not making your own opinion about it?
Go check it out on their bandcamp or on the player below!


If you like it, don't hesitate to support the band by buying and/or sharing their music!

https://www.facebook.com/wakingwander
http://wanderband.bandcamp.com/


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