This is simple, basic and excellent rock music with the added bonus of an unusual voice used in an original fashion. Difficult to hear the lyrics but I cannot hold that against it. The voice is a perfect instrument. Gets better with repeated listening.
.... it doesn't sound like singing. More like crazed rants from a ceremonial priest of some cult, and maybe that's why I sometimes feel spiritually lifted or drained when I listen to this album. I don't care who they sound like or remind everyone of, to me their unique. I listen, close my eyes and let my imagination flow.
To me this is so reminiscent of Public Image Ltd. / John Lydon aka. Johnny Rotten. Contrary to what other people say about the vocals here, to me it fits just perfectly with the music. This is no American Idol....
The music is just superb, but SO marred by the lead vocalist's lack of talent/ability, although he appears to be trying hard to be Robert Pollard, maybe, and failing. What a shame.
The music is somewhat original and intersting, but the absence of a competent singer pulls teh album down. I see them compared to Joy Division here..please..get serious. Ian Curtis was a personality. This here sounds like a good band with a 4th class imaitation of Robert Smith, just lacking any of this voice abilities. Sad
wow..now here was I getting all sad at the indefinite hiatus of Lungfish, when out of nowhere i come across Wilderness. To say i was astonished would be an understatement. Using the Lungfish blueprint of repetition and other worldly lyrical poetry and building on it with logarhythmic structures, this is an astonishing record. Cry not for the loss of Lungfish, the successors to the throne are here..
though their sound is not immediately associated with nature, the name wilderness is altogether acutely appropriate, as their sound is marked by quasi-tribal de-snared drum lines, minimalist drone guitars, and primeval singing that feels more like howling declarations that refuse to follow any definitive melody. and all this set to a subversivly 80's context; the ambiguity of the name wilderness is made all the more profound in how well they succeed to carve out a sound that is all their own.
just imagine running in a forest, being chased by a viking, who sings to you. kinda fun, but haunting nonetheless. killer!
The singer's voice is something to get used to: a mumbled shout that sometimes hits the notes, sometimes not. Wilderness is an astonishing band with a stunning album. Perfectly reverbed guitar lines recall the post-punk heyday without ever seeming derivative. One of my favorites of 2005 so far, hands down.
