Far from the Madding Crowd
[Sensory Records]

Last time I heard Wuthering Heights was in their debut Within, an album that combined symphonic, progressive and folk elements that made it enjoyable at the beginning but it not for the long run. Far from the Madding Ground is their third album and while there are improvements in almost every area, it is still an album that I don't see myself listening too much.

The biggest improvement that Wuthering Heights made was definitely with their vocalist. Gone is Kristian Andrén and enter none other than Patrick Johansson who sounds like a combination of Dio, Russell Allen and Jorn Lande. Patrick also appeared in Space Odyssey and most recently with Astral Doors. His commanding powerful voice is just what this band needed to add some authority to their sound. Kristian didn't have that strong of a voice in my taste and that weakened their sound. Patrick also shows more range in his singing than I had heard before because there are times where he sings in a higher pitch and with a softer sound. The ballad "Lament for Lórien" is one example where this can be heard.

The music has also been infused with a healthy dose of folk melodies. The majority of the solos and riffs by guitarists Erik Ravn and Henrik Fluman focus on these Celtic-type melodies and with such instruments like the bagpipe, banjo, flute and strings mixed in makes the folk sound really stand out. But don't be fooled, this is not just a folk album. The band definitely speeds it up at times and employs a heavy sound. The instrumental "Bad Hobbits Die Hard" is the heaviest song in the album, "The Road Goes Ever On" is a very energetic and heavy song as is "Longing for the Woods Part 1: The Wild Children" which has one of the catchiest choruses I have ever heard. Its sung by Patrick and some backup vocalists including a woman who takes the lead at one moment. In fact the "Longing for the Woods" trilogy is the best thing that this band does in Far from the Madding Crowd. Each song is different enough to be distinguishable but the same musical themes and especially that great chorus unites each one.

Where I think that Wuthering Heights goes wrong is that they lengthen songs too much and they try too be too ambitious when they change tempos that at times sound very forced. In the aforementioned "The Road Goes Ever On" I got tired of the repetition of the chorus and it should have ended after the dual guitar keyboard solo section and that very cool western sounding melody that ends at 5:40. But the band decided to keep it going with the main melody and right when it ends and it segues to Patrick's singing it just sounds really forced and then the song continues for another 2 minutes. These problems persist at various times through the songs and with just a little bit more work in their songwriting they could definitely come out with stronger songs. I could have also done with "The Bollard" cover song or at least they could have put it in the end because I feel it breaks the flow of the album.

Wuthering Heights has definitely improved from the debut (I have yet to hear the second album) and with Patrick singing and more focused songwriting this band can definitely be better. They have the talent and a great sound, its just a matter of tweaking the parts now.