Glorious Wolf is, as you might already know, a studio musical project from composer/guitarist Ruud Dielen and Mysterious Traveler is the third Glorious Wolf album. The follow up to Aquarius (2017, Digital Album) and Zodiac (2019, CD). On his latest release multi-instrumentalist Dielen (guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, mellotron, percussion and voice) is assisted by Kike Paglia (drums), Celia van Onna (lyrics, lead, and harmony vocals on The True Story, Beautifully Broken and Slow Down) and Frank van der Borg (lyrics and lead and harmony vocals on Repentance). The album features seven tracks, four instrumental ones and three with vocals. Opening track Repentance kicks off with lush keyboards and great lead guitar and it is a great opener that sets the tone for the rest of the album. Howling At The Moon, one of the four instrumental songs, and also the shortest track of the album has a very dominant guitar riff and is in fact a 100% pure rock track. Beautifully Broken, the longest song of the album, is divided into two parts, presented as one piece and it features lots of more than excellent guitar work, especially in the instrumental part two. The best song on this album however is the title track, an instrumental one with outstanding guitar and bass guitar riffs, hooks, solos, and melodies. As for the story of the album, it is about our current world that is in constant motion and transformation, where humanity is moving at a rapid pace and has forgotten what life is really about. The music that comes along with it fits perfectly with this concept. Too bad the sound of the entire album is kind of odd as really all the seven tracks sound rather flat. But that is just my humble opinion. All in all you could say that Mysterious Traveler is a fine album if you are into a kind of retro style of progressive rock music. Don't expect too much modern style of rock music. But then again that is just my humble opinion. *** Martien Koolen (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
