Wobbler seem to be a group somewhat out of time, playing a style of Prog with a seventies' Baroque sound, however, it's a wonderfully glorious sound.

As a reviewer, you're occasionally sent a promo album from a band you've never come across before. For me, Wobbler are such a band, a fact that is somewhat surprising given they play the kind of old-school Prog I adore. It's the type of Prog that reminds me of Yes, King Crimson and Jethro Tull (due to their abundant use of the flute) but with a Wobbler twist. 'From Silence To Somewhere' is the fourth release from this Norwegian act (I must check out the others) and its songs are filled with all the best elements that can be found in the Prog Rock musical lexicon.

This album features only four songs, but what songs they are. With their gargantuan twenty-three minute opening title track, right from off Wobbler show just what an incredible set of musicians they are, especially keyboard player Lars Fredrik Frøislie and guest flautist Ketil Vestrum Einarsen whose musical interplay is amazing to witness. The other Wobbler members are no slouches either, with Kristian Karl Hultgren on bass, Martin Nordrum Kneppen on drums, Andreas Wettergreen Strømman Prestmo on vocals and guitarist Geir Marius Bergom Halleland all joining together with Frøislie and Einarsen to help make a fantastic musical extravaganza.

However, it's the actual songs that are the stars here. '...Somewhere' is a majestic old-school Prog romp that's full of intricate keyboard fills, delicate vocal refrains and sweeping guitar passages, and even at almost twenty-five minutes in length, you never feel that the song has overstayed its welcome. At twelve and fourteen minutes respectively, 'Fermented Hours', with its more aggressive riffs and guitar work, and the wistful ethereal 'Foxlight' further show a band who have a passionate love for the classic Prog sound of the seventies, but are they also musicians who understand that this sound needs to be dragged a little into the 21st century.

Wobbler seem to be a group somewhat out of time, playing a style of Prog with a seventies' Baroque sound, however, it's a wonderfully glorious sound and I wish I'd been in on it from the start. Prog lovers can buy this without reservation, but those who have no love for day-length songs that are full of weird and strange imagery should probably avoid it. Personally, I am in the former camp and therefore I love 'From Silence To Somewhere'.

Ian Johnson