Review: Wig Wam – ‘Never Say Die’

With their January releases, Frontiers Music are not only spoiling fans of top-notch hard melodic rock and metal, but they are also pretty much throwing down the gauntlet and saying: “follow this”. January brought stunning new albums from W.E.T., Phantom Elite, Jason Bieler, Creye, Labyrinth, and the long-awaited return of Norwegian rockers Wig Wam with their comeback album ‘Never Say Die’.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the band split in 2013 and with friendships rekindled, the four-piece of vocalist Åge Sten Nilsen, bassist Bernt Jansen, guitarist Trond Holter, and Øystein Andersen on drums, quietly set about recording their first album since 2012’s ‘Wall Street’; and it’s been well worth the wait.

Making a name for themselves as Melodic/Glam rockers with one eye firmly on Sunset Strip, Wig Wam didn’t get the attention that they deserved outwith their native Norway and surrounding countries. With the cheesy band stage names discarded, Nilsen and company have produced an album, which although still very much great fun and a celebration of life, has more of a serious attitude about it. Could Trond Holter have come up with something as well-constructed and emotive as his Gary Moore-tinged playing on the instrumental ‘Northbound’ if he still went by the stage name of Teeny? Would the strains of Vandenberg-era Whitesnake on ‘Hard Love’, or the beautiful Beatles-esque six-minute closing track ‘Silver Lining’ have sounded less potent if the other three members still answered to Glam (Nilsen), Flash (Jansen), and Sporty (Andersen)? We’ll never know. Besides, if irony or tongue-in-cheek are still required, there’s always Steel Panther.

That’s not to say that ‘Never Say Die’ is 100% dyed-in-the-wool serious. It’s still an album full of infectious, instant ear-worm, good-time Melodic Hard Rock. Like ‘Retransmission’ released on the same day by W.E.T., ‘Never Say Die’ contains many moments easy to sing along to from the first listen, the title track being a prime example; the hooks are humongous and big enough to reel in both Godzilla and King Kong. The stomp on ‘Hypnotized’ (fuelled by some neat riffage, and a killer drum sound), combined with Nilsen’s throaty vocals ala Lord Coverdale, make for a fine slice of Melodic Hard Rock that could have been in your collection for years, rather than days. The impossible-to-resist ‘Kilimanjaro’ is less than six degrees of separation away from what can be heard on commercial Country Rock radio, take away the references to coke and grass, tone down some of the riffs, and the melodies would have the rooms of writers on Nashville’s Music Row wondering where they went wrong. Needing something with a bit more bite? Then check out ‘Where Does It Hurt’, ‘Dirty Little Secret’, and ‘Call Of The Wild’ which all score very highly on the Jake Peralta Noice-ometer.

Whenever bands get back together one of two things will happen; they’ll purely go down the nostalgia route and not even entertain the thought of recording new music, or they’ll set out to prove a point by recording some killer new material that proves that they are more than a nostalgia act. Thankfully in the case of Wig Wam, it’s the latter. And by opting for door number two, they have birthed one hell of an album that rolls back the years and lands in 2021 kicking and screaming.

Available now: Buy/stream here.

Connect with Wig Wam here.

Review – Dave

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