Detailed Reviews [The Wrong Object - 2019 - "Into the Herd"]

Prolusion. Belgian band THE WRONG OBJECT has been an ongoing venture ever since 2002, with two live albums and five studio albums to their name since then. "Into the Herd" is the most recent of their studio productions, and was released through Belgian label Off at the start of 2019.

Analysis. According to the band's own self-description their aim is "Blending the cosmic energies of Nu-jazz with modern rock sensibilities and live electronic devices". While that may well be the case, at least on this specific album what I hear is mainly what I'd describe as well made jazz-rock. A contemporary sounding variety of the genre, but not all that much Nu or new about it as such, at least not as dominant traits. In essence, an album that should have a fairly broad appeal among fans of jazz-rock I surmise. The fact that this is an instrumental band comes with some automatic assumptions, and I suspect many of them will be served as expected too. The compositions are generally somewhat quirky, there's plenty of challenging sections that demands quite a bit from the listener, and while I'm not a musician myself there are numerous small little details that strikes me as probably being rather technically challenging to pull of as well. It is all assembled in tight and well thought out packages though, and the band generally stays on the right side of the border of becoming too challenging. The use of saxophone and clarinet as solo instruments and providers of impact sounds and moments is a liberal feature throughout, and as such a taste for these instruments will be needed. But both gentle and more harsh guitar textures and solo sections have their place too, and the bass and keyboards are also given their spots in the highlight to showcase the skills of the musicians as well as how compelling those instruments can be as lead instruments in their own right. And while the drummer isn't given the same amount of limelight, it is easy to hear the skill and talent in this department of the band as well, the rhythm department being one of the many details that elevates this album experience by it's presence. The compositions range from the delicate and more careful to the hard, harsh and energetic, and more often than not combining several modes of delivery and intensity into each of the songs. The band will twist and turn quite a bit, but also making sure to return to certain key motifs or arrangements to emphasize the individual character of a composition. The complexity does give this album something of a uniform sounds though, and it will demand repeated listens before one gains enough familiarity to the individual creations to be able to separate all of them from one another. Otherwise I note that the band ensures that a strong groove element of some kind is present in just about all the songs, so that while the instrumentalists tends to be rather expressive and creative in their individual roles on a general basis, there's always some element for the listener to grab on to as a foundation and perhaps even a guide through the often complex arrangements. Mellower prologues and interludes also serves a similar purpose, calming the mind prior to a more expressive excursion, a breather and a pause that will often be needed when the music has a rather challenging dimension to it.

Conclusion. The Wrong Object is a band that are excelling at their craft, and those with a general interest in instrumental jazz-rock better take note of this band and this album. That this album has sold out it's original CD print just a few months after it's release is probably also a strong indication about the quality of the material here. A strong, quality production, and while perhaps not with the broadest reach outside of the genre this is most certainly an album that will be highly regarded by fans of this specific variety of progressive rock.

Progmessor: July 19th 2019
The Rating Room