Kauan - Aava Tuulen Maa (CD)

Review
Atmosfear Magazine
8/10

Бытует мнение, что третий альбом для каждой группы становится самым важным, после него можно говорить, есть ли будущее у группы либо же на ней можно ставить большой крест. В случае с KAUAN, я могу с уверенностью сказать, что будущее у этого коллектива есть, причём очень даже светлое. Начнём с того, новый альбом дуэта из Челябинска был выпущен не только в России, но и на западе, причем не где-нибудь, а на известном финском лейбле Firebox Records. Что автоматом означает, что музыка KAUAN теперь будет доступна куда более широкой аудитории. Нужно сказать, что KAUAN в этот раз немного удивили, если раньше на их музыку можно было повесить ярлык dark folk/black/doom metal, то теперь их стиль можно обозначить как ambient/post rock. "Aava Tuulen Maa" - это очень атмосферный альбом, под завязку наполненный эмоциями, способных погрузить в состояние покоя и умиротворения. Альбом для романтиков, если хотите. Этот диск надо слушать где-нибудь на природе, наслаждаясь бескрайними полями и лугами. Лирика как обычно на финском языке, несмотря на то, что группа родом из России. Также не могу не отметить шикарный двадцатистраничный буклет, который сделан на матовой бумаге и внутри которого можно увидеть настоящие акварельные рисунки которые идеально передают настроение и атмосферу композиций. Такие релизы не пропускают...

Author: Costas

Review
Chronicles of Chaos
6.5/10
24.12.2009

Circumlocution aside: I can't really get into this album. Kauan have really deviated from their roots as a dark folk-cum-avant-garde doom/death band with _Aava Tuulen Maa_, and I find this a little problematic (much as I did with The 3rd and the Mortal's progression from their amazing _Sorrow_ EP to the dreadfully boring _Painting on Glass_ and _In This Room_). Anyway, if you paid attention to Kauan's previous effort, _Tietäjän Laulu_, you could see that they had already started to incorporate some different, perhaps more mellow and less metallic influences, into their interpretation of doom/death.
With _Aava Tuulen Maa_, though, all traces of doom/death -- or any other kind of metal for that matter -- are long gone, which isn't a problem in and of itself. Now we have acoustic guitar, violin, piano, programmed drums, and all clean vocals forming a particular synergy their new label Firebox are touting as "post-rock". I'm not exactly sure what this means, but I wager that it's got something to do with mellower atmospheres, a more minimalist approach to melodies (with the incorporation of non-traditional "rock" instruments, such as violin, mellotron / synths, and piano), and less use of distortion of any sort, in favour of a more "organic" and "open" feel. Compared to their previous releases, though, I have a feeling "post-metal" would have been a more apt descriptor for Kauan's music; but, that's just me.
Apropos the music: I found the first two songs, "Ommeltu Polku" and "Valveuni" to be the most captivating on the album. The first few minutes of each draw the listener in with an almost Sigur Rós-type atmosphere. Haunting violin, piano, and a very interesting and mysterious sounding synth effect evoke feelings of rain-etched and dolorous landscapes, punctuated here and there with undulations of hope and possibility. I think the cover artwork is the best graphic expression of the kind of music they're attempting to create with this album. So if you can, just listen to the first song whilst looking at the cover—it serves as an excellent leaven to the listening experience.
The rest of the album, to me, isn't nearly as good as the first two songs. Actually, the other three songs are forgettable and rather bland; they really seem to just blend into one another, and therefore fail to reach any form of status with respect to their own identity. Sure, there are beautiful and mysterious melodies in parts, but there's not enough of them to really make me want to keep listening to this over and over again -- as I would for any of Amber Asylum's albums (which, I think one could say, fit into the same genre as Kauan). In keeping with my reference to Amber Asylum, each time I listen to one of their CDs I feel that I'm left with some form of an "audile idolum" or a spectral trace that resonates with me for hours after having stopped the music; not so with Kauan's latest effort, unfortunately. Even after the fifth or sixth spin of _Aava Tuulen Maa_, I would find myself getting more and more impatient; and, at several points, I just wanted to skip through certain sections.
Now, in my description thus far, you might have noticed the absence of any commentary on the vocals. Well, unfortunately, they are my biggest issue with this album, and thus make it very difficult for me to give it a higher rating. That Kauan have managed to "phlebotomize" their instrumental approach by withdrawing and draining all traces of metallic elements away means that the vocals have followed suit: you'll find no dry rasps or growls on this album. To be quite frank, the first reference that came to my mind when the vocals made their first appearance was a flat-out boring Eastern European adult contemporary band that's regularly featured on Eurovision. Is this a good thing? No. Multi-instrumentalist Anton Belov's vocals are a rather special sort: a lowish clean croon without any efficient ability to emote, inflect any special mood/substance, or really captivate the listener -- well, this listener anyway.
I think with this kind of music, the vocals need some sort of trademark approach, something to set them aside from other bands -- energy of some sort, perhaps? Had Anton gone for a much higher-pitched and possibly more "fragile" approach, not unlike Jón þor Birgisson from Sigur Rós or Carmello Orlando from Novembre, then I might have found this album a little more interesting. Or, inversely, had he taken his croon down a few octaves, similar to Juhani Palomäki's vocals for Yearning, or Jarmo Kylmänen's for Eternal Tears of Sorrow, then it would have added more depth, edge and identity to the music. As they stand now, though, Anton's vocals come across as too safe and too plain.
We can only hope that with their next effort, Anton and Lyubov will be able to inject more of a special identity into their songs, leaving behind, perhaps, some of the more unexciting elements found on _Aava Tuulen Maa_, such as the vocals. To close, then, _Aava Tuulen Maa_ is a brave attempt at exploring new territory (for a former "metal" band), and this is especially instantiated in the first song; however, the rest of the album unfortunately lags, and thus becomes boring and flat after just a few listens. Hopefully maturity will afford Kauan some insight into how to make their craft a little more dynamic and memorable.

Author: Mark Dolson

Review
Doom Mantia
5/10
02.12.2009

I first heard Kauan back a couple years back discovering them purely by accident. I like how they were one of the only bands to mix doom, black, folk metal with some ambiance and make it into a coherent package. The album i bought is called "Lumikuuro" and is one of the most diverse albums i have ever bought. The band sounded a little like Agalloch, early Empyrium and Tenhi but now move forward to 2009 and something weird has happen. This band is no longer doom, black, folk and certainly has nothing to do with metal, i would go as far to say this should be classified as "Alternative/Pop" with melancholic ambient overtones. Now most of you reading this have properly hit that little X in the top corner of your computer screens in disgust but hang on, its not all that bad. The band is pretty much a one man band, since it’s Anton Belov that does the writing, singing and almost all the playing. He only uses Lubov Musnikova on violin next to him, and that could be because i think they are married but don't quote me on that. While the band have shifted directions, the Kauan trademarks are still present, like the dominating piano, the instrumental passages and the melancholy atmosphere. The melancholy drenched piano chords, added with airy synths do threaten to go off and get and really cheesy at times but thankfully they don't get too schmaltzy. I did read something about Anton Belov, he lives in Chelyabinsk, a city with more than 1 million people. The expanses of the Urals is close to there and is where Anton Belov gets the inspiration for his music. That explains a lot a lot when you hear the music on this CD, released on Firebox/Badmoodman Music. Now back to the music, first of all the songs have i think Russian song-titles so i am not even going to attempt to memorize them or spell them. What the lyrics are about, i also have no idea and i am not about to spend a couple of hours on the Google Translate page trying to decipher their meaning. The music itself has some nice parts and might make for some nice mood music now and then, its also very well played and the production, album artwork is also great. One look at the artwork and you suspect this ain't no doom album, the other thing is the record label is advertising them as "dark rock". Not only is this wrong and mis-leading, it is also false advertising. The songs work in their length, but sometimes sound just thrown together, some parts (even the electric guitar) do not add to the overall atmosphere, rather it takes away any mood that was originally created. The album has a shortage of any tension and it only serves as a soundtrack for sleep or dreams. Kauan did have some potential but this is a major wrong turn and i am not just saying because it lacks any doom attributes. I have listened to my fair share of mellow music in my time, this is just too life-less for me. The only real highlight on this album for me is the end of third, more rock-orientated song, at that time we’re already halfway the album since the five songs take an average of ten minutes. Its at that point we hear a rocking guitar solo that we know from bands like Mogwai, Isis and Pelican. Unforgivably those moments are few are far between, i am hoping they will return to the sound of the first album. The sooner, the better.

Review
The Executioner ZIne
10/10
04.03.2010

En tan sólo tres años este duo ruso formado por Anton Belov (también en Strecosa y Helengard) y Lyubov Mushnikova ha editado ya tres álbumes, siendo el primero, “Lumikuuro”, un disco de referencia en el 2007 para mucha gente. Con este dan el salto y lo edita, aparte de su sello de toda la vida, Firebox Records de Finlandia.

Su anterior trabajo dejó una larga lista de excelentes críticas, pero un servidor le dió dos escuchas y no me convenció demasiado, aunque desde luego Kauan no parece el tipo de banda que entra a la primera y fue un fallo no insistir. Por eso no me conformé con el resultado obtenido tras ponerme “Aava Tuulen Maa” por primera vez, con lo cual me había quedado algo impasible y procuré volver a escucharlo en el estado de ánimo adecuado, y ahí la cosa empezó a cambiar. No podía ser de otra manera viendo su nacionalidad, las olas de melancolía desbordaron del equipo de música y envolvieron toda la habitación de una manera mágica, pausadamente, haciendote flotar en su neblinoso paisaje.

No podría encuadrarles dentro de un estilo fácilmente, y desde luego no entiendo las similitudes que puedo haber leído en distintas webs con el Doom o cualquier tipo de Metal extremo (de hecho únicamente aparece una parte de guitarra eléctrica en todo el disco, en el cuarto tema), aunque creo que han evolucionado muchísimo respecto a su primer trabajo. Kauan entrarían dentro del mismo margen musical en el que metería a bandas como Tenhi (su nombre lo toman de un disco de esta banda), Subaudition o Sigur Ros, incluso los trabajos acústicos de October Falls o Ulver.

Beben tanto del Post-Rock atmosférico como de influencias folklóricas de su país y lo traducen todo a un lenguaje muy personal; en sus cinco temas (cuatro de ellos superando los diez minutos) hay sitio para una variada progresión, atmósferas desbordantes de una mística electrizante, siempre enaltecidas por un teclado que va cumpliendo tanto la función de piano como introduciendo capas de sintetizador muy similares por momentos a las usadas por Amorphis en el gran “Tales From The Thousand Lakes”.

Probablemente el mejor disco de Post-Rock del 2009, una obra de arte. Recientemente lo han reeditado en vinilo.

Author: Jeroni Sancho

Review
Archaic Magazine
24.01.2010

With their third release Kauan have quickly deviated from their origins as a Folk Doom/Black band in a similar vein as Empyrium and Agalloch, into a dreamy post rock band similar to Sigur Ros without the eccentricity. While most might see the departure from metal disappointing, “Aava Tuulen Maa” is still a beautiful experience capturing the spirit of nature in a way complementary to their blackened more aggressive debut opus Lumikuuro. Right from the starting track “Ommeltu Polku” to album closer “Neulana Hetkessa” “Aava Tuulen Maa” engulfs you in the atmosphere and emanates moods of melancholy and longing similar to fellow Eastern European band Drudkh. Kauan doesn’t fall for the same traps many post rock bands find themselves in. Instead of basing all of their compositions on building crescendos that can be recognized minutes ahead the songs have own unique segments and riffs that captivate the listener and complement each other creating a greater whole. These do eventually build into climaxes and crescendos but they are part of the journey and not the destination. The prime example of this would be the stunningly beautiful album highlight “Fohn”. If you’re looking for something aggressive and “metal” this isn’t for you. But if you enjoy Empyrium, Tenhi or Kauan’s previous work then it get’s the highest recommendation.

Author: Jake McCloskey