Glorious Wolf is a project by Ruud Dielen, who provides all the instrumentation on the album. Ruud is a guitarist who has been working in various covers bands, and since 2007 has also been part of Perpetual Béta, an improvisational band who were influenced particularly by Weather Report and Frank Zappa. That he comes from a diverse background is reflected in this debut album, as although the roots are often in progressive music, he is moving through many different styles, so much so that it is hard to really categorise. There are times when he is moving through fusion-led guitar solos with minimal backing, others when it is much more Floydian in approach, while others are slowed-down doom so much that it is almost sludge.
But, at the heart of everything, are pure clean guitar lines, no matter what is going on in the background. Ruud is a fine guitarist, and has an innate understanding of melody, although the songs themselves are just vehicles for him to provide lengthy solos. I would like to see this project morph into a full band, or at least with real drums as opposed to programmed, but even as it is this is an album that is accessible and enjoyable on first hearing. I sincerely hope that this leads to more music from Glorious Wolf.
