Scott "Wino" Weinrich (no relation to the band also being reviewed this week by Creaig Dunton) has been in many groups over the years. Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan and The Hidden Hand. After a couple of decades moving from one classic doom band to another, this is first time releasing an album under his own name. The formation of a new band for these sessions has worked to his benefit as this is a return to form after a few years in a songwriting wilderness.
One thing that holds true for Wino after all these years is that he does not surprise his listeners. Every album by Wino’s various bands sounds roughly the same; his style has changed little since his time in Saint Vitus. Yet despite this tendency towards a standard, the quality of the music still varies wildly from release to release. For example, Wino’s last band, The Hidden Hand, started out strong and ended up fairly flaccid by the end without really evolving musically. With Punctuated Equilibrium, the musical template still has not changed (this could have been recorded 20 years ago) but the passion has returned. The riffs here are huge, the solos are like lasers and Wino’s vocals sound more energetic than they have in years.
There is a good mixture of straightforward songs like the title track (I never thought evolutionary theory would make a good song but Wino makes it work) and pieces where the band just grooves and lets Wino loose on the guitar. “Wild Blue Yonder” features some fantastic wah-wah solos from Wino’s magic fingers. “Secret Realm Devotion” combines the best of Wino’s songwriting and guitar playing (although the chorus is a bit wobbly); there is some seriously killer riffage and soloing going on here.
It's great to see Wino back firing on all cylinders; Punctuated Equilibrium is one of the best things he has put his name to in a long time (which explains why his name is now so prominently displayed). All the classic Wino ingredients are here but the music never sounds as antiquated or as worn-out as The Hidden Hand did towards the end. This is a no-nonsense, no-frills beast of a metal album, just Wino doing as he does best and it is great to hear him sounding like he is having fun again.
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