The Moshville Times - Review: Widek

[avatar =”Progger” size=”50″ align=”left” /]Journey to the Stars is the latest release from the up-and-coming progressive instrumental one-man band, led by as its name suggests Widek. There are dozens of instrumental bands that have risen in the past few years, but only a few have really stood out. These include names such Animals as Leaders, Scale the Summit, Plini, to name but a few. After excellent debut Outside the Universe, Widek returns with another gem comprised of 12 songs and featuring some of the genre’s “hottest” axemen.

One of them is Scale the Summit’s Chris Letchford who appears on the opening track “Mira”, a song that paces the way for the rest of the release. Widek’s fascination with cosmos adheres throughout the recording through the atmospheric ages that build the foundation for most of the songs, in accordance with melodiousness. Widek manages to keep “frantic” and “elegant” in pair, avoiding standards of what instrumental prog metal has become today. The refreshing songwriting is one of the key points of Journey to the Stars. Numbers like “Earthshine” which features Plini, and Orion II (featuring Sithu Aye) are good examples of it.

The longest piece on the album “Canis Majoris” features guest appearance from Scar Symmetry’s guitarist and composer Per Nilsson, puts accent on exploration and emotion. The exploration being the emotions and thoughts that the band is able to transcribe into your mind not just with their technicality, but how they are able to make music feel like an adventure.

Journey to the Stars, overall, is an album that everyone should give a chance regardless of what type of music you with. Widek certainly made a big step forward with this record, and it’s refreshing to find a progressive artist that actually puts “life” into their music instead of just showing off.

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