Wanderlust
It is incredibly hard for new artists to find a specific sound that nobody has ever done before, but this may be the most important task for any band at the same time. There are several efforts you can already listen to, for instance bands that are using exotic instruments or an experimental style of composing. One band that has chosen the second path is Finnr’s Cane, as their songs arose from an intuitive improsivational process. That is quite interessting, but can this suit your ears?
Wanderlust is their first and only release, but it has been released twice. Twice? Indeed, because it was originally released through Frostscald Records in 2010, but it was re-released through Prophecy Productions after Finnr’s Cane signed their deal. This seems to assure some quality, as Prophecy Productions usually provide high quality bands.
The canadian trio that forms Finnr’s Cane does have a strange style of composing their songs, as we mentioned before, but that is not the only “odd” fact. They use a cello which completely replaced the bass and in addition to that they are using strange nicknames (The bard, the peasant, the slave). The eight songs are quite long and so the record has 55 minutes total playing time.
As mentioned before, the process of which the songs arose seems to be unconventional and only a few artists have the guts to compose in such a way. That this process is indeed unconventional can be heard as well which is pretty interessting but has some negative points as well. Finnr’s Cane are presenting long drawn instrumental passages, mostly done in mid-tempo, which are defined through spheric sounds. As “instrumental passages” state, they mostly divest themselves of vocals and when vocals are used, they are very subtle.
This subtleness is a bit difficult. On the one hand it suits the spheric character of their compositons and leaves enough room for the instruments, on the other hand they are hardly audible from time to time and it could have had a strong impact if it would be more present. The created atmosphere is really cold and little sort of loneliness set to music. You may see yourself wandering through an winter landscape in your inner eye while listening to their record.
The songs are dabbling for minutes, just to proceed into nothingness, which could resemble those spiritual wanderings through bleak landscapes. Sadly, that is not the only way you could see this passages, as you might think they are quite verbose and therefore boring. Outbursts of this scheme are rare and the only song in which it is clearly evident is The Hope For Spring which is the most black metalish song on the record. The production is, as you expect from an Prophecy product, really good, although this might have also been the fact for the original release.
Conclusion:
Wanderlust is special. Spheric, nearly provoking verbose and monotonous sounds are gushing out of your boxes. As described you can nearly feel the bleakout landscapes while listening to the music, as you are sinking deep into the atmosphere. Of course those monotonous sounds, subtle vocals and long drawn atmospheric passages are not suitable for everybody and you should think twice, if you can handle it. If you love (post-)black metal with really thick atmosphere, you should listen to it anyway.
Rating: 78/100
Date of release: 25th Mai 2011
Tracklist:
