Review Summary: Shatter the coils.
There is something far reaching about the solace of the world outside our belovedly warm comforts in our homes. I am not sure if I am alone in this (I like to imagine I am not) but many times I cannot help but ponder if there is a point to the rapid and shallow industrialization of the world, if a grassroots return is any sort of lifestyle to achieve. It's something more of a wish; that if one wanted to eschew the suffocating bewilderment of the surrounding world they'd have to do away with convenience and shake off certain social connections. The resulting lifestyle would be a natural one-as our earthly cradle would rather appreciate. On the other hand, this could be viewed as a lazy way to avoid the challenges and possibilities that this intricate social web allows us. Maybe it is the ultimate goal and destiny of humankind to raze the earth and turn it into a coveted and lucrative superpower that produces and provides for the ever growing demand for food and oil and electricity. Maybe it's all a big sham that each human must attempt to untangle until we absolve ourselves of our greater societal problems.
The grassroots approach sure as hell sounds a lot simpler. Let's return to that aforementioned solace.
Zorzysta Staje Oćma is that comfort. It is that feeling of peering from a hillside beyond a dense thicket of trees blanketed with snow. It is the petrichor that wafts after a fresh spring rain, carrying with it the therapeutic scents of freshly budding flowers. It is a simple and joyous representation of the fruits that the world has borne to us, accomplished through hypnotic murky tremolos, graceful synth work and distant harsh echoes that weave through the work like a wistful breeze. Wistful, as while the record is beautiful and loving, it is equally weighed down with yearning. "Góra, Która Jest Ogniem" encapsulates this towards the end, as the riffs become sluggish and heavy, leading into a deeply mournful spoken word.
Of course, this would not be the only example of hypnotic and languid ambiance that permeates the grandeur of this record. In fact, Wędrujący Wiatr has always had a deep fondness for spoken word elements, as
O Turniach has also presented often. Here, however, they hold much greater prominence (and weight) throughout the record. "Rzeka, Która Jest Światłem" begins in the same manner as "Gora" ends. Hypnotic, poetic, and perhaps just as if not more passionately imbued with longing. A desire to see the world turn away the shallow chains of modernity that is humanity's greatest blessing and curse. With the strength of this ideology being the driving motif of their sound, it is a little difficult for this to be (at least, for this particular reviewer) approached from a more critical lense (as I feel maybe it should be). It appeals to my admittedly selfish desires. To abolish the life I have and run from my fear and confusion and sustain myself in an isolated cabin hidden amongst the great pinewood forests of Maine. This, for various understandable reasons, cannot happen, but Wędrujący Wiatr make it feel as if I am already there, while I sit on my impressively beaten futon in the warmth of my apartment. I think that, for the time being, I will take this with gratitude.
