Wigelius
Tabula Rasa

Swedish band Wigelius are back with a new offering, once again they have a title indicating something fresh and interesting. A few years ago it was Reinventions and this time it is Tabula Rasa that means Blank Slate and considering the lack of fresh ideas of the debut album a blank slate is really what this band needed if they want to avoid being drowned in the mainstream. So what has happened in four years? Is this album really a blank slate? Well, to me the titles of the first two tracks say all you need to know about this album.

“And sure enough it is in accordance with AOR 101 or AOR For Dummies which are the sources every Frontiers person is required to read before doing anything in terms of work for the label. And Wigelius sounds as AOR usually does with a very melodic foundation with strong guitar melodies along with catchy choruses and a sing along feel to it all. It is easy to take in from first listen and it is sort of infectious. There are no surprises, everything sounds according to the format and even though the album is a bit varied it doesn’t really feel like you are getting any variation through the 46 minutes it keeps going. The production is flawless which one would expect from any band in this genre and the voice of Anders is excellent for the genre. The band themselves are very melodic and skilled and their performances on this album is excellent as well. So, all is good then? that is the typical question and the answer to this isn’t really that clear cut but the fact that the band does not really stand out from the lake of similar albums out there already isn’t that much of a positive though.” That is what I wrote about Reinventions and changing 46 to 48 makes it relevant for this album as well.

I could actually just copy-paste last review as this album is more or less exactly the same and if it wasn’t as good as it is with the catchy songs and all of that I would easily have given it three points. It is an album that is impossible to hate but I also think that it is equally impossible to love as it sounds more or less like any of the other AOR-albums out there. Déjà vu is as very good description of how I feel about this album I knew the songs before I had even heard them and could sing along with them the first time I heard them and then I was tired of it the second time I head it. It is good but also very forgetful and I think Wigelius lacks identity, it is like they are satisfied to make generic AOR – I think they could do something more interesting had they been better songwriters.

Speaking of songs, to me none of them stands out. Well, one does, the final tracks is such a poor and boring ending that it is almost like they wish that no one should want to play the album again. A boring generic rock ballad is no way to end an album you want anyone to be grabbed by. In the end I think that this is a decent album, you will not hate it but at the same time it is hard to see it becoming anything but another album amongst many.

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