Per Wiberg – Head Without Eyes (Despotz Records)

English:CD-review
  Van Muylem    17 mei 2019

Per Wiberg is Swedish musician who has made a living out of playing most things heavy the last 30+ years. A multi-instrumentalist who has played keys, bass and guitars with a number of bands and artists like Opeth, Spiritual Beggars, Candlemass as well as Clutch/Bakerton Group, Switchblade and Kamchatka to name but a mere few.


Today is the day I review his first solo album. So let’s discover it together and see if he matches the high expectations!

Let The Water Take Me home starts with a piano and a cold voice (slightly distorted). It has something cold, melancholic and depressing. Towards the end the tempo goes a bit up. Anywhere The Blood Flows sounds a bit like a mix between Bauhaus and dEUS: alternative rock with a gothic hook. I also hear the organ/synth that reminds me a bit off Steven Wilson (but hey that’s logic as they worked together in the past). The song also takes out 11:24 minutes and makes it epic. And because it’s such a long track we hear a lot of magical twists (extra backings, change of rhythm, …). There are a lot of special effects that gives it something psychedelic. Pass On The Fear has the perfect title for this track as it sounds scary and spooky, with lots of dark thoughts, blood, murders, … Don’t listen to this track when it’s in the middle of the night and you're all alone whilst hearing strange things as it might kill you! Get Your Boots On rocks in a catchy way with again that magnificent dEUS kinda touch. Towards the end it goes more into psychedelics and is my favourite track on the album! Pile Of Nothing reminds me of the latest Nine Inch Nails material: spooky, slow but still dangerous! The roaring guitars gives it a doomed feeling, whilst the female backings give it a haunted touch. This song grows slowly and will in the end stick inside your head. Fader is the last track: a slow one that lasts 10 minutes. First comes the piano, then the vocals and slowly more and more gets added to end in a slightly chaotic phase.

Well: this one was great, a bit short on tracks as I really want to hear more from this guy and that’s always a good sign!