Wendigo
Wasteland Stories

Wasteland Stories, sounds a little bit grim – or maybe somewhat solitary. Solitude, loneliness and desert is the theme of this album, a theme that loosely runs through the album both musically and in lyrical themes. These stories are told during the debut album of this German band who calls itself Wendigo, a quintet who begun its story in 2012. Then they were a cover band but after releasing their first EP in 2016 the focus turned to their own songs, something like that. And now they have gathered enough material for a debut album, an album of wasteland stories – stories that I have been listening to.

Stoner rock is the genre, if you indeed want to place them in a box. But they do think a little bit outside said box as well, with touches of doom metal, sludge, even some black metal as well as the classic hard rock tunes that inspire so many bands. So it offers a range of ideas and a decent variation of songs, but I am not so sure that that you can describe them as overly fresh or innovative. The production is good, nice soundscapes with depth and power. The vocalist is pretty okay as well, not a fantastic singer but he works okay for this album, and sure he leaves a bit more to be desired but not a major issue. This is a solid production that works really well for the entire playing time without ever feeling too long or anything like that.

Wasteland Stories is a rather good album with good songs and no distinct weakness. There are some things that could have been better, like the vocals for example and perhaps it is also missing that standout song. Because of these little niggles I am not so sure that this album will make much of an impact, with the right exposure it might but I don’t think it has that edge that will take it out of the massive mainstream of bands that do what they do well but never really makes an impact. But they do have some really good ideas that could evolve into something more exciting but isn’t quite there yet.

Perhaps it is an album worth looking up for the stoner fan, and I would describe it as a good debut with some promising touches. Surely not a musical wasteland and it is fun that they dare to venture somewhat outside the boxes. I would guess that there is a pretty good chance for something quite exciting and interesting in the future – perhaps they have something going here. So if you are a fan of the stoner genre it should be worth checking out as it is a solid debut album with some fine songs.

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