Pepper is definitely one of the more interesting albums I have heard in a while. There aren’t too many folk core bands with Celtic influence that people are familiar with out there. And even better, White Owl is a Russian quintet created in Moscow on top of that. Their songs pass through many styles, while their interests allow their songs to venture across multiple cultures too.
As you can imagine, the listener is taken in several directions over the 34 minutes that make up Pepper, and White Owl is more than happy with this. The majority of the tracks are mostly folk rock with a Celtic influence. They have a familiar sounds that I can’t really put my finger on, but for some reason I keep coming back to Rusted Root. Most songs are in English, but some of them aren’t, but that shouldn’t influence your experience.
For me, Pepper was entertaining for a while, but it really bounced around a lot. Also songs like “Lord of the Dance” and “Fifteen Men on a Dead Man’s Chest” certainly seem pretty ridiculous when scrolling through the track list, and still are when listening to them. WO realizes this, but they also felt they worked. Which to some extent they do, but in a bit of an awkward way.
White Owl seems like a very fun band. I could see them being a blast to see live, especially in a festival atmosphere. For me, I wish the folk core style they hype was more prevalent on the album. You hear how good it could be on songs like “Cunla”, but I feel they’d do better with releasing more songs in this style. I haven’t had the chance, but I would think the best way to introduce yourself to White Owl would be to see them, and base your purchases on that.
Kevin Kozel-MuzikReviews.com Staff
October 8, 2009
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