WIG WAM – Out of the Dark

I was rather enamored with Wig Wam’s Never Say Die opus from 2021 as it was an utterly confident, enjoyable, and energetic slab of memorable hard rock, and it is pretty frigging awesome to see and hear that their latest output, Out of the Dark, offers more of the same.

Arena-sized choruses, riffs as heavy as concrete, and delightful vocal pyrotechnics by the inimitable Åge Sten Nilsen – what is not to love about that?! One thing that does set this eleven-track offering slightly apart from its predecessors is its slightly more brooding tone in places, which is perfectly exemplified by the title track as Wig Wam have never sounded as dark as that before. Not necessarily world-weary, just darker. Then again, ‘Forevermore’ is an anthemic piece that will brighten your mood and lift your spirit, so that serves as a good contrast to the aforementioned title track. Dynamics and diversity are definitely not unknown concepts to these gentlemen as evidenced by the remaining tunes on the disc. In terms of its production, Out of the Dark sounds pretty damn massive and the rhythm section is akin to a bulldozer, so if punchy and infectiously catchy hard rock is what you are on the lookout for then you have definitely come to the right place. ‘Ghosting You‘ is forgettable but High n Dry’ and ‘Uppercut Shazam!’ might well be the most entertaining cuts in the Wig Wam catalogue yet.