Album Review: Wodorost, From the Depths
The second full-length from Polish heavy psych rockers Wodorost, titled From the Depths, arrives with a direct intent toward immersion. Following on from the Warsaw-based three-piece’s hotly-tipped 2021 self-titled debut, the band — guitarist/vocalist Bartłomiej Głowiński, bassist Jan Witusiński and drummer Anna Żukowska, teamed with returning producer Jacek Stasiak at Kongo Studio — offer a linear experience across two sides of engaging songwriting and what sounds like moments of expressive, fun improvisation on what has been positioned by the band as, “A concept work symbolizing a resurfacing from the abyss, a metaphorical journey through inner exploration and recovery from depression.” The theme can also, of course, be seen on the cover art by M & P Ferenc and Bartłomiej Głowiński.
And sure, one can hear hope in the newschool space boogie of “Whirl,” or in the warm, Colour Hazey tones that go exploring in “Temple” early on, or in the subsequent “Visions,” which is a funky raga wakeup jam with a sans-vocal chorus that returns to end after the song shifts through a Kyuss-style desert riff, but one has to be in it to hear it. That is to say, Wodorost have put it all in front of the listener, but the listener has to pick it up. If you’re not careful, if you don’t give From the Depths its own due time to unfold and reveal its structure in its own way, the eight songs and 45 minutes could wash over you beginning with the intro “Submerged,” which fades slowly in from silence on an atmospheric undersea drone, spooky, loosely threatening, but resonant just the same as the drums begin the march into “Depths.”
Maybe not such a surprise that the post-intro leadoff on a record does a lot of the work in telling the audience about the album, but in tone and purpose, “Depths” is a herald for what Wodorost will do throughout the LP with which the song shares part of its title, while at the same time an excellently placed divergence, since nearly all of what follows is almost completely instrumental. There are two spoken parts — Michał Ferenc (of the art?) contributes voice, Witusiński and Żukowska the words — on “Beyond the Blue” and “Reflections,” but other than that, “Depths” is the only cut on From the Depths that has vocals, and it is the only cut that has singing, which is handled by Głowiński with lyrics once again courtesy of the rhythm section.
This has an effect on the listener almost like a secondary introduction. Wodorost have taken the time to carefully bring you to this place and now they’re going to tell you about it, even if that’s not what the words are actually about. The sound is rawer on the hole, and more cosmically commanding, but the drums hold the procession through the finish and by the time “Depths” is done, Wodorost have completed the welcoming portion of the collection. You could say they did that with “Submerged” but as “Temple” begins its own subdued introduction, the patience and the sense of exploration feel distinct from “Depths,” which thanks to splitting “Submerged” off as the album intro, stood on its own. When the “Temple” riff begins, it’s the kind of next-generation interpretation of heavy psychedelic tenets that made Sungrazer such a draw over a decade ago, only now it’s a new generation again.
But the depth, scope and jam-prone foundations of the style remain firm, and Wodorost use them through the instrumental “Temple” and “Visions” to let parts and entire songs breathe as they seem to want to, and where a lot of bands will tell you they’re chasing creative energies distinct from themselves through the universe, “Beyond the Blue” is particularly organic in its change right around 5:30 when the subtle circling around the band have been doing clicks on the big-sound pedals and they ride that crescendo and its offset chug through the end of the song. Volume, warmth, flow. The spoken part gives a human presence ahead of the danceable “Whirl,” which turns improv-sounding before the guitar shreds in midair, while “Reflections” fades in on wispy runs of memorable lead notes — flicks of melody, almost — and builds on its light bluesy feel, setting itself on a trip that pays off noisy but doesn’t leave the comedown hanging as might be a misstep on an album that feels so otherwise complete.
That notion extends to “Dry Out” as well, which like stretches in “Whirl” and “Reflections,” in that From the Depths is effective in balancing composition and improvisation, and for someone new to the band like myself, the capping nod and entrancing instrumental course of the closer reinforces the potential Wodorost have displayed, whether a given song was more straightforward, set itself to wandering, or brought together both in a dynamic that one hopes will only prove so malleable over a longer term as they move forward. As it builds to its head right near the album’s completion, “Dry Out” still seems to be revealing places Wodorost might go and what they might ultimately bring to a genre that, for all its molten sound, is rarely so able to transcend its own methodologies.
