Monday, December 14, 2015

EP Review: Corrington Wheeler - Traveling East



Corrington Wheeler is an interesting musical specimen. Young, energetic, and vocally gifted, Wheeler is a member of the new breed of rock musicians. Being a fledgling rock artist is hard in 2015, a lot harder than it was in 2000, and extremely more challenging than it was in 1985. The field is overflowing with a lot of “musicians” who think they are fantastic and crowd the marketplace with a lot of filler that isn’t even worth listening to. They flood you tube, spotify, and all of the other digital media outlets with their junk. Yet every once in a while someone like Corrington Wheeler comes along and disrupts the dust in the modern musical wasteland. It’s musicians like him that bring hope to the future of music.

Modern rock influences can be felt throughout the music, including Linkin Park and All American Rejects. Corrington takes the strengths of bands like that and pours it into his own music. A full mix of modern rock and industrial heaviness with a touch of doom metal is what rounds out the sound of Corrington Wheeler. Lead track “Sociological Structural Functionalism” starts the music off and while it is a great song with gifted solos and exceptional lead vocals, the addition of the cookie monster growl in the chorus pulled me back a little. And that may be my only complaint of the EP.

“Altering Buddha’s Principles” features a return of the growls, but it also contains smart lyrics, a hard rocking riff, and a heavy drum beat that will have air drummers pounding the imaginary skins for all their might. “Altering Buddha’s Principles” is a solid song that reminds us not to waste our life; time is precious and we must make the most of the time we have. Those are words that Corrington seems to live by.

The final track is also the strongest one. “Skoras Witchery” is a nice acoustic riff that features guest vocals from Maico, a Japanese pop singer, whose voice is a perfect complement to Corrington’s. “Skoras Witchery” is a fantastic song that is purely simple. An acoustic guitar and two powerful voices were the only things required to make this beautiful track. Corrington seems to be at his best in this setting, but with such a small sample size, it’s hard to say for certain where his musical career will blossom. However, if there are more tracks like “Skoras Witchery” recorded in the near future, I can almost guarantee stardom for the young man.

Traveling East does exactly what an EP is supposed to do. It creates exceptional music and leaves you wanting more. Corrington Wheeler could have a very bright future ahead of him in the music industry, should he stick with it and get the proper promotion his music deserves. If he continues to record EPs as grand as Traveling East then it’s only a matter of time before he breaks big.  

Want to hear it for yourself? Visit: http://corringtonwheeler.bandzoogle.com/

Track Listing
Sociological Structural Functionalism
Altering Buddha’s Principles
Skorkas Witchery

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