For newcomers to Wildildlife, it’s easy to be caught off-guard by their Crucial Blast debut, Six. Opening track “Things Will Grow” lures the listener into something innocent and infectious, gently carrying them towards the unexpected. As it turns out, Wildildlife’s first full-length is far from the raw, happy-dream rock record that the first four minutes may lead you to believe.
That’s not to say that the chilling beauty of this release is lost from here on in. In fact, it’s prominent throughout; whether it’s buried beneath the lumbering, treacle-thick walls of slo-mo guitar drone and distortion, or hanging in a veil of chimes and softly-strummed acoustics. The use of sound layering is very intelligent and natural, with no instrument being thrust to the foreground – instead, the sounds gather and settle into one entity, with the megaphone-drawl vocals calling out from beneath.
All of this is fed through a fairly solid production. The band seem reluctant to tamper with the sound in terms of polishing up, and there’s something aurally pleasing about the un-gated guitar hiss, or the preparatory scrape of fingers on frets, signaling the imminence of a riff about to happen. That said, the drums could do with being pushed back into the mix slightly, as they can tend to suffocate the other instrumentation during the faster-paced moments. It’s only a small criticism though, and one that passes unnoticed for a majority of this album.
Six hits a quality-peak at the 18-minute “Magic Jordan”. The first half calls upon a crumbling, heartfelt power, similar to Boris at their most ambient and melancholic, before spiraling off into a meditative state for the last ten minutes. It's almost like astral-projection through music, and reaches a captivating height that this album doesn’t quite manage again.
Perhaps the abrupt shifts in style and tempo have something to do with this. Although Wildildlife get top marks for execution in transforming galloping rock-out into darkened drone doom, I find myself slightly dissatisfied, coming out the other end of Six unsure as to how to define what I just experienced. Unfortunately, the fact that the album covers so much territory leaves them appearing a bit indecisive about the atmosphere they want to create. Hopefully, the band can learn to refine their sound into something with more focus and distinction with future releases.
And besides, it can’t be forgotten that this is their first full length, and one that definitely demonstrates their ability to create high-standard heavy music. Taking that into consideration, it’s a very impressive effort, and I’m confident that it won’t take long for them to run alongside the major names in the rock music underground.
| Reviewer: Jack Chuter Added: November 23rd 2007 |
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