ICE FLEET

In 2021 a friend told me that the last KAUAN had just been released, in short, acquisition and want to tell you about it tonight since it is finally co-opted, integrated on Progarchives.

'Enne' creaking boat noises, the atmosphere is there; it's simple, fresh, it's basic but it gently disconnects you from reality to bring you to 'Taistelu' with its overlooped, redundant, hypnotic sound, from the best ANATHEMA, sulphurous, which puts you in a trance, ode to creation divine of the frenzied and snowy high steppes. 'Maanpako' continues led by a dark and delicate piano arpeggio, solemn, jazzy drums, soft; the break wants to be hellish, raw on a heavy riff then it goes down and touches the divine. Anton's death voice wakes us up from lethargy, warm. 'Kutsu' follows mix of previous titles with loudness, debauchery of sounds of a malmström and soft melancholic lament; the voice is clear, on the original language; angelic choirs come for a time to amplify the state of bliss, a horn, waves and 'Raivo' arrives, pompous, grandiloquent, majestic; we are on the absolute musical emphasis, between cathedral doom and happy melancholy spleen; around 3'40'' it's orchestral ecstasy with a riff from beyond the grave, then Anton's death voice, the return of this heavy, harmful and so enjoyable riff before the symphonic flight over disaffected limbo from the steppe; we are again on the ANATHEMA sound of their second period, the sidereal beauty, the intrinsic beauty, the Beauty with a last solo à la CAVANAGH. 'Ote' and the waves which allow the transition with this crystalline piano; the synths are even more majestic, showing the idyllic character that one note after another can recreate; warm Finnish voice for a melancholic decrescendo of great beauty, invading spleen at the tip of the ship's bow; the post-rock guitar suddenly reminiscent of the SIGUR ROS, the air always latent, angelic and majestic, I dare not write divine. life before 50, otherwise you don't know what Life is; a slow climb to capsize the boat? a time when everything merges even without LSD or another magic mushroom; post again monolithic but stratospheric, basic but clear, creative and beautiful; for the finale, an icy guitar arpeggio on these sounds of boats and mooring lines from the start.

Well, giant album in its genre from one of the best current bands for the sound generated and the atmospheres suggested, that's how it is. You have to have it, listen to it, keep it to yourself.

The cliche with art is that it "grows on you". In the case of music, this might mean that the other proverbial phonograph needle finally dropped after multiple listens. For such an occurrence, the piece must compel more auditions than one might deem sensible, so some hypnotic manipulation might be necessary. I submit that Russia's KAUAN are masters at this, and much more of course.

They are back to a real life story for "Ice Fleet", their (as of this writing) last release. In the 1930s an ancient fleet of unknown origin was discovered frozen in the remote wastelands of northern Russia, around which many legends have sprung. In another similarity to prior works like "Sorni Nai", this is really one long track that the band has split 7 ways, and the divisions seem haphazard. You know I am not crazy about that, but I am about pretty much everything else here...now.

The band's softest album was the previous "Kaiho", and perhaps their heaviest was its predecessor "Sorni Nai". "Ice Fleet" splits the difference, with a few growling metal passages that craftily upend reflective moments, the best example being the third track "Maanpako", which really cuts the ice of a lackluster start to the whole opus just shy of its 2 minute mark. Conversely, introspective passages wisely "yin" the death and doom, as in the later parts of "Raivo". The last 2 tracks introduce and culminate a melody of the imprisoned ships that, as arranged, rivals the best of the "Kaiho" album, which is not always the case elsewhere. It also, in the quivering arrangements, is best enjoyed under a throw blanket at the hearth.

I'm going to mention the long lived Finnish group TENHI again because there are, as always, similarities, particularly in "Enne" and "Kutsu", but I think what has allowed KAUAN to surpass that group is that I never felt like TENHI was all on board with a singular approach, not a style, mind, since both groups are all over the map. but with a philosophy around their work. Asd a result, while I cherish selected highlights by TENHI, KAUAN's projects seem more unified, my gripes regarding how they are split notwithstanding.

Under dogged again by KAUAN's spell. I believe this is a group offering much more than fleeting pleasures to those who seek out emotion wrapped in folk, post rock, and permafrost.