the great wilderness - in the hour of the wolf

The Great Wilderness

In The Hour Of The Wolf
HereNow Records; 2013

3.8 out of 5

By Sean Dennison

In the Hour of the Wolf is an intriguing blend of stoner rock with psychedelic swathes. And it’s from Costa Rica, which is just not a country I'd expect to produce such music. Echoed vocals, slick drum rolls that change tempo mid-beat, tough bass lines that help levitate the oceanic guitar work. There is a notable emphasis on vocals, which is interesting because of the thick, hazey string arrangements. 

Distorted guitar notes often boil just below the surface of the more immediate sheen on instrumentation, sometimes getting in the way of a particular passage, sometimes highlighting a key instrument in a track. This means the vocals fade in and out of clarity and though the lyrics are sung in English, the accent and unexpected accentuation can damn a lyric into misunderstanding.But look over that little flaw, especially when the music itself will have much of your attention anyway. It is heavy as post-rock, but fraught with the heedless drumming characteristic of post-punk and the electronic fog that pervades shoegaze albums. 

There are many moments to fall in love with, from the urgent drumming in "Wetlands" to the metallic anguish expressed in "In the Hour of the Wolf." I love the sound, the heaviness of it, the thick imagery concocted by the musicians, who use thick sounds to weave a tapestry of volume for the listener, but In the Hour of the Wolf also runs into problems of homogeny.

At some point it becomes difficult to distinguish one composition with another. There ARE many wonderful moments on the album, and they all run into each other. Not a bad thing, especially for this brand of heavy rock and roll, but people looking for something different will be disappointed. Devoted psych-heads, however, will feel right at home with The Great Wilderness’ In the Hour of the Wolf.

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