Review Summary: Dripping with atmosphere, power, and beauty the album succeeds at being an extremely meaningful and necessary addition to instrumental hard rock. One which doesn't use flash as a main ingredient.
Widek is a member of the growing one man instrumental progressive metal movement. In just five years he has three LPs and two EPs. He sets himself apart by focusing on atmosphere rather than the intricate virtuosity of similar artists. The music utilizes relatively straightforward “djent” rhythms mixed with sustained synths and delayed clean guitars all dripping with reverb. The beauty of the layers is undeniable, with little to no dissonance to be found.
“Journey to the Stars” definitely succeeds in what it was trying to do and is a marked improvement over its predecessor “Outside the Universe”. A big reason is the large number of guest soloist and how the album starts off with four tracks each with a different soloist. It is a joy to hear many of the best players in prog put their stamp on a track, thus giving the track a much needed climax and dynamic shift. The album also greatly benefits from more emphasis on clean delayed guitar sections, namely the beginning of tracks: “Chara”, “Parallax”, and “Rana”, that give the music a nice dynamic range. And I have to say that Per Nilsson, one of my favorite axe masters, really gives a nice lead on an album highlight: “Canis Majoris”. This is an album whose tracks slowing and steady grow until they burst with emotion yet always make sure to keep a super chill vibe. The songs aren't in a hurry, and instead let you soak in the atmosphere and emotion of a truly chill, yet much more than ambient, experience. It has such a wonderful vibe about it, like profound discovery and the mystery and beauty of the universe. It's great music to let your imagination run wild.
There is slight room for improvement. The rhythm guitar progressions are necessarily simple to fit the sound but they move at such a slow and deliberate pace throughout the entire experience that the listener may find themselves often waiting for the next section for something more interesting to come around. The big cause of this is the consistent slow tempo and absolute lack of riffs. You know, when the rhythm guitar is playing multiple notes to make its own interesting musical statement rather than just existing to back up the rest of the music. A counter melody to the main melody. I know the rhythm is kept simple to give more room to the synth and clean guitar combo and create a vast soundscape, but it doesn't have to be that way ALL the time. I went and listened to Widek's release: “2010/2011 Songs” and was pleasantly shocked to find highly up tempo tracks along with great bad ass riffs and much more lead guitar work. This gave the music more momentum and impact. The more atmospheric approach Widek has taken is appreciated, but adding in some more of the energy he has already proven he can provide would make “Journey to the Stars” even more recommendable and re-playable. Don't get me wrong, the current sound is terrific and very effective at conveying an angelic mood. If there were a lot of rhythm guitar busyness it would take away from the music. But just enough here and there would benefit the overall quality.
Keep it up Widek!
