Projektor - Red Wolf Glass
(Endearing)
With sounds ranging from bright, airy drums and
floating, dynamic guitars to distorted bass and heavy
beats, Red Wolf Glass is a satisfying debut album
from Canada's Projektor. Projektor was formed last
year by members of different independent Canadian
bands: Kittens (Jahmeel Russel), Meatrack (Darren
Achorn), Leaderhouse (Dustin Leader), and Room 237
(Chris Harder).
The album is fairly straightforward rock, but slightly
dark and experimental. The songs are dynamic and
usually include dramatic climaxes and introspective
moments. The songs also tend to be long, probably
because they are "rock epics."
The most prominent element of Red Wolf Glass, at least
at first, is the vocals. Jahmeel Russel and Dustin
Leader sing on almost all the tracks. Their voices are
strong and soaring, and they hold notes for an
unusually long time. The steady notes contrast with
the rest of the music, which is always moving and
changing, and they give it an extra push. The vocal
style doesn't change much throughout the album,
however, and it gets old after so long.
With a slightly closer listen, you'll discover the
guitars, which are the most exciting part of the
album. Because there are two guitarists in the band,
they are much more versatile, with one often blending
with the other instruments while the other embellishes
with different sounds. On the second track, a flanged
guitar makes a little melody while stronger, distorted
chords come in every once in a while from the second
guitar. In the third track, a picked guitar theme
accompanies sometimes, but it quickly shifts to a
stronger, distorted sound to match the other guitar on
the louder parts of the song.
The vocals and the fluid guitars are backed up nicely
by drums that usually sound full but can also be light
with a lot of symbol, high hat, and snare. And the
bass is also dynamic--sometimes heavy and sometimes a
playful, prominent part of the music.
My biggest complaint about this album is that although
its songs are dynamic, they can be predictable and
too long, like the last track, which is over eight
minutes long. It starts out quietly and slowly then builds
and gets faster and more complex. But soon, it's
soothing again, but then it rocks some more. But this
is not the end--it becomes mellow again and a little
dreamy, but guess what! It totally rocks out again
with distorted guitars and pronounced beats and
chords, but slows down again, and we are back in
dreamland for a really long time. I am glad when that
rock epic is over.
Aside from that, everything else about
Red Wolf Glass is great; I would recommend it to
anyone who likes a good rock album.
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