‘Welcome To Wonderland’ by Wish To Wonder
Wish To Wonder, a band from Austria, released the album ‘Welcome To Wonderland’ some time ago. They take us on this musical journey, and the influences are immediately apparent. The first three songs already show that there is no pigeonholing here.
‘Magic Potion,’ the opener, is well chosen as it has almost pop-like indie rock traits and reaches a wide audience. ‘Heavy Soul’ proves to be a sensitive, quiet song that makes you think and has great melodies. With ‘Delirium,’ it's stoner rock meets 70s rock à la Queens of the Stone Age.
Alternatives are served up with
‘Red Sky.’ ‘Showdown,’ a wonderful track that invites us to linger for a moment, impresses with its arrangement and vocals and follows next.
‘Blessing and Curse’ follows in the footsteps of its predecessor but breaks out again and again to explore its musical boundaries, and is one of my favourites.
‘Thunderstorms,’ very 70s rock-heavy, picks up the tempo a little again - great drums, as on all the tracks. While ‘Paranoia’ is heavy again, ‘Big Lies’ is a stoner track driven by bass and drums. ‘Ichido Kanjiru’ rounds off a successful album on which many genres shake hands and have their basis in stoner rock. From experimental to indie rock to alternative, they pull out all the stops.
In terms of content, they offer just as broad a spectrum as musically, ranging from the harmony of nature to feelings of being lost and identity crises, to inner turmoil or letting go, and much more. Everything is processed lyrically and chiselled in stone(r) rock.
Marija Kasljevic (
vocals),
Max Kern (
drums),
Thomas Umundum (
guitar),
Ewald Ottacher (
solo guitar), and
Gregor Müller (
bass)
work great as a band, each contributing an important part to the whole. Whether it's the drums and bass that drive the guitars along like there's no tomorrow or the vocals that breathe life into every song - everyone has their place. It goes without saying that everything is very guitar-heavy, but categorising them where they are needed or taking a back seat is what makes the difference. ‘Welcome To Wonderland’ by Wish To Wonder is raw, straightforward, and pure energy.
NenesButler - Indie Music Blog
