Wobbler - From Silence To Somewhere (2017)

I have to profess, I had never heard of Wobbler prior to listening to this and all I can say is that's a shame they've remained under my radar for so long.  Every review you've read probably says the same thing and I'm not going to deviate from that.  These Norwegian's play Symphonic classic progressive rock and damn do they do it well.  I hear so much Yes influence but I think there's a heavy dose of Emerson, Lake and Palmer and a dash of Gentle Giant.  And lets be honest, if your going to emulate your sound and style those are three pretty darn good choices.

From Silence to Somewhere has been 6 years in the making and has seen a changing of the guard...well actually guitarist. Original guitarist Morten Andreas Eriksen has been replaced by Marius Halleland, but make no mistake, Wobbler is far from a one man show. In fact,  the plethora of sounds and instruments is what truely makes Wobbler unique.

From Silence to Somewhere starts of with a 21 minute opus and is appropriate the title track of the disc.  I have to say, a 21 minute song is really hard to listen to by my standard but the song is so captivating, it captures so many sounds and styles and wraps them in to one long magnificent piece.  I swear I even heard a little Allman Brother riffing at the :59 second mark that sounded like Whipping Post.  I absolutely love this song, there's so much going on that you really need to sit down and focus on every aspect of it.

Fermented Hours is the 3rd track and again combines some of the best of classic rock, love the Chris Squire-esque bass playing by Kristian Karl Hultgren.  In fact I wish at times it was more at the forefront of the production.  The song is keyboard dominated, not that it's a bad thing, but the musicianship is so outstanding that I try to focus on all aspects of the song.

The final song is the 13 minute tune called Foxlight. Again this song has so much depth to it and I love the harpsichord added in the mix.

For a band having such a big retro Prog Rock sound they are a fresh of breath air.  This disc has really piqued my interest to the point I will be going back and visiting the rest of their catalog.  Well done my friends, the only thing that would make listening to this disc even sweeter would be to hear it performed live.  Such an outstanding disc and well worth the 6 year wait.[Rating: 9/10]

1. From Silence to Somewhere
2. Rendered in Shades of Green
3. Fermented Hours
4. Foxlight