A hodgepodge of genres such as Garage Rock, Grunge, Noise, Punk and Psychedelic Rock converging in a surreal burst of loud guitars. That's a great definition of what the Californians from Wand feature on their second album, the addictive Golem.
The influences cited by the band during the disc writing process (Melvins, Sleep and Electric Wizard) are very clear in the early tracks. The album opens with a heavy riff that reminds Black Sabbath from "Unexplored Map", a relatively short song. Then the very heavy "Self Hypnosis in 3 Days" abusing simplistic riffs and a latent noise rock, "Self Hypnosis in 3 Days" is definitely the highlight of the disc.
All this weight in the previous tracks is interrupted by the dreamer "Melted Rope", strengthening the arguments of those who compare Wand to a 'heavier Tame Impala'. Despite the indisputable quality of the music, that seems out of place in the context of the entire album.
Another good highlight is the almost pop "Cave In". A song located in the middle of the disc, is a kind of middle ground between the extremes presented in this work.
After the noisy "Floating Head" and "Planet Golem" the disc closes with "The Drift", almost entire made with synthesizers, reaffirming the diversity of styles that permeate throughout Golem.
