Bastinado - Wilt > Reviews > The battle of Cormac

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money

Advantages:	n/a
Disadvantages:	n/a

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

FIRST AND FOREMOST I KNOW THIS IS NOT A REVIEW OF THE ALBUM. IT IS A REVIEW OF THE BAND; THIS SEEMED THE MOST APPROPRIATE CATEGORY TO PLACE IT IN.

It is not likely that you've heard of this band. I have, and feel obliged to let you all in on how damn good they are.

The story behind this band is an interesting one. Wilt consist of four people however, two of those four have a history.

March 13th 1993 I was 12 years old and (Against my Mum's wishes) went to my first rock concert at Norwich UEA! It was great, Therapy? headlined and were supported by the then unheard of Skunk Anansie (fact: I met lead singer skin at the bar!). The first act on was a band called kerbdog. Kerbdog broke the rules, support acts were stereotypically crap, thus making the headlining band look even better, not to be. The Irish 3-piece took the stage by storm and I went away having seen three of the best bands money could buy.

I followed Kerbdogs progress into the big wide world of music and bought up every album and single that came my way! After their initial album, originally entitled 'kerbdog', they release 'On the turn'. This album, in my view was excellent, in the eyes of Kerbdogs record label was a failure and the band soon lost their recording contract.

Lead single Cormac Battle was devastated, no really totally devastated. Along with his fellow bandmates he was so certain that this album would bring success. Failure shattered the band and they broke up.

Battle re-emerged two years on after a bitter struggle again acute depression. He was reformed and with former kerbdog guitarist and two new members he created Wilt. The two years he suffered were a platform for many of the songs written and the tale of his struggle can be seen within his lyrics.

The first single 'disco radio' was a success and the band followed with the double CD album Bastinado. The day it was released I went to buy it and struggled to find a copy in music stores, I didn't care I was happy that it'd sold out, it meant that it had been met with success. The album contains 11 tracks and also a bonus CD with 6 acoustic versions of songs of off the album.

I saw Wilt on the 'other stage' at Glastonbury last year. They were awesome. The band is more than guitars and drums; it is a personal story of success for frontman Battle. He managed to come back from oblivion and re-establish himself in the industry he loves.