A seven-year wait is way too long a penitence, after the sublime Seven Windows (2017), this celebrated Polish combo launches The Wyrding Way, reuniting the core of guitarist extraordinaire Miroslaw Gil, the exotic Satomi on violin and keyboards, bassist Przemas Zawadzki and new recruit Maciek Caputa on the percussion front. The lead vocalist chair has been historically an endless revolving door, resembling the infamous Roxy Music bassist position, as the band introduces Jinian Wilde. The Polish scene has always been somewhat volatile with groups vanishing (the sadly dormant Albion, State Urge, Lebowski, Thrilos and Satellite) and others returning into the spotlight (Collage, The Adekaem and Fren).
Five beefy tracks with well over an hour of glittering music, Believe lights the fuse with a comprehensive 21 minute + megalodon “Hold On” that makes you want to grab the hand rails for the unflinching adventure will provide many twists and turns along the way. Satomi’s famed violin paves the path with an immutable sorrow, the thoughtful Wilde vocals treading onto the solemn theme, displaying an adamant restraint, as the melody takes shape. Mirek Gil’ s illuminating guitar gathers in the crew as they trespass into the fold, the bass expertly surveying the road ahead. The lyrics are clever, with its Le Carre hints that have more to do with the daily routine as opposed to the spy game. The fluid electric guitar and the graceful violin trade strings throughout the blossoming arrangement, unflinchingly assisted by a solid rhythm section that keeps things nice and tight. An acoustic guitar inflection indicates a noticeable variation that further widens the scope, a rousing organ sway underpinned by a swirling bass and drum channel. Gil infuses a trembling riff that speaks volumes, Wilde suggesting an urgent sense of ‘helter-skelter in a masquerade’ and ‘perhaps another chance to be reborn’, the fuse is now lit for a patented Gil solo that stamps his soaring style with the seal of perfection. Still holding on tightly as the piece veers once again into despondency and desolation, the second axe solo now way more dejected and apprehensive, as if the fear of letting go may appear just around the corner. When the strings infringe on the pain by elevating the numbness, the pensive solitude returns to its initial opening theme.
A trio of 11-minute tracks take over the menu, “Wicked Flame” comes across as a sublime Bond-like prog theme (the title rhymes with the spy game after all), the undaunted violin egging on Wilde’s steadfast microphone performance, the adamant pace navigating carefully the scorching sparks of orange light. The sweltering bass shuffles the mood into a short Gil sizzle, the drumbeats crackling, warm keyboards maintaining the temperature and a lead vocalist on fire. The final ember is a volcanic explosion that sputters gently into ashes. Absolutely brilliant track.
Jinian Wilde unwraps his gifts of voice eloquently on “Shadowland”, a swooning ballad guided by a bass undertow and an overhead violin that bursts into a musical inflorescence, leaving the insistent Mirek Gil guitar to weave its unbounded magic, lush with both tone and technique. Grandiose and bombastic as it keeps expanding in emotion, the violin encroaches with authority, boldly suggesting an imminent hope for freedom, haunted by an unexpected piano solo from drummer Maciek Caputa that coronates this piece with even more class.
Crushingly poignant, a truly Polish attribute by all accounts, the obscure “By My Tears” hits the lachrymose glands with no mercy, a painful musical memory of a bruised soul. The instrumental palette is desirably intimate, the harmony vocal work stupendous, the velvet violin intense and the two Gil fretboard moments are just plain out of this world, insistent, dramatic and immutable solos that singe the mind. Stunning piece.
I have never come across a track entitled “Shine” that stunk, seemingly a glistening word that can evoke nothing but excellence, just like the Sylvan piece of the same name. Wilde consolidates his credentials with another compelling performance. A mere 7 and a half minutes in length, it serves as a fitting illumination on the horizon, encompassing all the classic Collage/Satellite/Believe tradition. The Poles are such a passionate, romantic, at times even fatalistic people, having survived more tragedies than one could possibly imagine, and it reflects in their music and their culture. Hopeful, at times sad, resolute and courageous. That is why they shine.
The band should never allow itself to stay away from the public eye for such extended biblical periods, its unfair. Both “Seven Windows” and “The Wyrding Way” are testaments to the quality of this meticulous prog combo, and we can only wish for more, and soon.
Shout out at the cover art, it is ingeniously attractive.
5 unimaginable maneuvers
