Style: Prog Metal, Folk Metal, Symphonic Metal, Death Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, Wintersun, Turisas
Review by: Christopher
Country: US-MA
Release date: 21 September, 2012
One of our favourite bands here at the Progressive Subway is Wilderun—their 2022 release Epigone was our first ever official Album of the Year as voted for by our writers. Their grandiose symphonic arrangements, Opethian growls, and incredible composition merit them as one of the greatest rising stars in the genre, destined for a place in the prog metal pantheon. But today we’re looking backward rather than forwards: Lost in Time is our occasional feature where we highlight underground albums at least a decade old that merit a revisit, and today’s subject is Wilderun’s 2012 debut Olden Tales & Deathly Trails.
Now, I’ll be upfront about my allegiances: Veil of Imagination is my favourite album of all time, and Epigone and Sleep at the Edge of the Earth lurk close behind it. However, Olden Tales & Deathly Trails never quite clicked with me and I’m ashamed to say I’ve neglected it. When I realised their whimsical debut was within our Lost in Time parameters, I took it as an opportunity to give it the comprehensive listen that my favourite band have surely earned.
Certainly, Olden Tales… is a very different beast to Epigone. Here Wilderun borrow from traditional folk standards in a way that they all but abandon on later albums: dainty mandolin plucking and irreverent flute lend a picaresque quality—the opening to “The Coast of High Barbaree” sounds like it must have been recorded with the band decked out in full pirate regalia. Rather than the enormous choirs that pierce their later releases, Olden Tales… has a more drinking song approach to group vocals—best shown on “How Stands The Glass Around?”—the sort of jaunty thing to which you swing your arms, a sloshing stein of Deathly Trails Golden Ale in hand (send us a pint, lads?). I’m glad that the cheesier folk excesses have been jettisoned on subsequent records, but it’s undeniably a fun gimmick here, especially when Wilderun build upon this frame with their portentous symphonic arrangements which elevates the folk frivolity from Pirates of the Caribbean territory into Master and Commander’s waters.
This isn’t to say that the symphonic death metal grandeur that would come to define Wilderun isn’t present on Olden Tales… because it undeniably is, even from the opening instrumental “The Cracking Glow” where Wayne Ingram’s sublime orchestral arrangements are showcased for the first time. Closing epic “The Dying Californian” gives a real taste of what’s to come on future releases, a heavier and more symphonically ostentatious work that feels like a precursor to Sleep at the Edge of the Earth, the sophomore upon which they further developed the sensibility that would lead them to their magnum opus.
Evan Berry’s vocals have come on beautifully over the years, but they started from a strong base. Olden Tales… is chock full of sincere croons, swaggering shanty-like passages and, of course, those bellowing Akerfeldtian growls. Compositionally, the reliance on folk standards does limit the songs occasionally, but the more sprawling prog aspirations take these frameworks and run with them into seven minute adventures. Listening to Olden Tales… back in 2012, one might not have been able to guess where Wilderun would end up a decade later, but the way in which they’ve refined and evolved their sound is hardly a surprise either.
Olden Tales & Deathly Trails is my least favourite Wilderun release but that’s a bit like having a least favourite Cormac McCarthy novel, or a worst beer (maybe Deathly Trails Golden Ale is the worst beer? I’m sure it isn’t but how will I know if I don’t get to try it?)—quality may vary but you’re never too far from the sublime. All the majesty of Wilderun releases to come is present here, unrefined at times but undeniably packed with potential and irrepressibly fun to listen to. When you make an album as godly as Veil of Imagination your starting point is going to look a bit amateurish by comparison, but a comprehensive grappling with this debut has shown me that Olden Tales & Deathly Trails is anything but.
Recommended tracks: Suncatcher, Storm Along, The Dying Californian
You may also like: Lör, Iomair, Conspiracy of Zero
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
Wilderun is:
– Evan Berry (vocals, guitars (rhythm and acoustic), mandolin, keyboards, tambourine, arrangements)
– Wayne Ingram (guitars (lead and acoustic), mandolin, keyboards, shakers, backing vocals, orchestrations)
– Daniel Mathias Müller (bass, hammered dulcimer, autoharp, backing vocals)
– Jonathan Teachey (drums, cajón, backing vocals)
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