Augustwolf – Visual Music

Augustwolf – Visual Music – Album Review

“It does not matter how others perceive or accept your art.”  I couldn’t agree more!

So why am I here then?  #AskingForAFriend #ActuallyThatFriendIsMe

That is…quite the set of notes that come along with this album…to say the least.

Anyhow.  I’ll stay in my lane and simply make some comments on what I’m hearing on this new album Visual Music by Augustwolf whether they like it or not I suppose.  It’s pretty clear they’ve already made up their mind about criticism & whatnot, so there’s not really a whole lot for me to say in that regard as a result – but again, fundamentally, I completely agree with there being no real way to teach an artist or band.  Y’all do what you do, you make what you make, you do what you do because you love to do it – anything beyond that really doesn’t matter a whole lot, and I’d be the first to concede that to ya.  Still, it seems like someone’s curious about what I think…that’s how music tends to come my way…and in the same sense that music is your art and words are mine, the only responsibility I have ever believed I have in listening to anything is to simply be an honest reflection of what I hear.  Take it or leave it – I just do what I do; if a critic was to worry about being critical, there would literally be no point to what I do at all.

On the bright side of things, I hear the effort and the talent throughout this entire lineup of songs, so that makes things pretty easy for me.  I listen to “Pursuit” start up this record and the brilliance of a guitar player like Oleh Andrievsky and I know I’m gonna be on solid ground & can provide Augustwolf with further confirmation, which I suppose is really all there is if criticism isn’t really valid, am I right?  Comparable to the intensity of something like you’d find in Steve Vai, maybe from somewhere around the Sex & Religion album…”Pursuit” gets things moving quickly in the right direction and makes for one heck of an opening track.  Awesome depth in the bass provided by Marco Toba too…and Doug Reid, who does everything else from compose & arrange the music to write press releases, gives the song a wider scope of cinematic sound through his contributions to it.  All-in-all, I sure ain’t complaining that’s for sure – these dudes can definitely play and they come out crushin’ it as Visual Music roars into first gear like it’s already rippin’ at full speed.  Genuine professionals to the nth degree, they most certainly are.

Much to Doug’s credit, he’s found an extraordinary lineup of incredible players from around the world to help bring his vision to life.  Listening to a track like “The Sorcerer’s Audition” easily confirms that he’s not only found insanely great players, but the right ones to make these songs shine – and make no mistake y’all, knowing who should play what & where is a talent completely of its own as well.  Glenn Welman provides amazing drums to “The Sorcerer’s Audition,” Martin Steapien fills in the rest of the rhythm section with stellar bass, and I honestly don’t think that we’re ever going to find Andrievsky to be anything less than completely remarkable…that dude is a gifted guitarist beyond words, and supplies parts that most mere mortals would never dare to even attempt.  A player that’s got the authenticity and feel to what he’s playing at all times…he’s a pure joy to listen to, straight-up.  While his main cohort in Reid is tagged to “everything else” beyond what I’ve listed and certainly makes significant contributions in that regard, the real credit he deserves most is for designing extremely compelling and engaging instrumental material.  As a great many of you know out there, instrumental tracks inherently have a tougher time reaching the mainstream ears for a variety of reasons, with the main one being there’s simply nothing to sing along with – but I’d be willing to bet that a track like “The Sorcerer’s Audition,” and indeed this album at-large, will surprise the vast majority who give it a chance.  The accessibility found on this record is pretty staggering really – and credit where credit is due, that’s very much because Doug is highly capable of composing music that is undeniably interesting to our ears.

Like everything we all listen to, we like what we like and we love what we love.  You’re going to find me much more on the side of songs like “Pusuit” and “The Sorcerer’s Audtion,” because those both have significantly progressive structures and complexity that is rare to experience, whereas a song like “Jimmy Jam” is still played with a ton of skill, but treads closer to what we know as a result of the roots being in traditional Blues and R&B.  What I like about “Jimmy Jam” is that, although still more familiar in sound, Augustwolf proves there are still ways to be innovative and not make it simply sound completely like everything else.  Still fully comparable in the sense that if Blues/R&B are your genres of choice, believe me, you’ll find plenty to love about it and likely enjoy it even more than the first two tracks on this record.  The real bottom line is that Doug, Oleh, and whichever cohorts they are collaborating with, ensure a seamlessly professional ride from start to finish on any given tune, which ultimately puts them in a position that any track from Visual Music could very well become someone’s favorite.  I don’t mind “Jimmy Jam,” it ain’t a bad tune at all – and I love the contribution from Damiano on the Hammond organ…that’s probably my favorite part of this cut.  I spent half my youth lugging around a Hammond from place to place as my parents moved all over town…those things are freakishly heavy, but they sure have their own timeless sound that you couldn’t possibly miss.  Nostalgia-inducing, for me personally.

I was actually probably more on the fence about “Cirque Show” if I’m being honest with ya.  Again, there’s really nothing to be taken away from how any of these tracks are played – Augustwolf is beyond professional in that regard, and everything is seamless…so that really only leaves us with our own personal taste.  The notes I have with “Cirque Show” say to “imagine this is music for a cirque performance troupe” – which I really believe they’ve made easy for us, right up to and including the live audience sound they’ve added into it.  That being said, I wouldn’t go and see a cirque performance troupe either, so you get where I’m coming from.  No disrespect to what they’ve created – they accomplished exactly what they set out to achieve, it’s just not my thing.  I appreciate that “Cirque Show” adds yet another different dimension of sound and new dynamics to the record overall, but that’s probably where it starts & stops for me concerning this tune.  If “Cirque Show” happens to be your favorite, as always you’ll get nothing but an enthusiastic high-five from me.  Like what you like, love what you love – just keep on listening y’all.  Ultimately, I respect how being exposed to songs like “Cirque Show” broaden our palettes as listeners & I certainly admire the tightness of their musicianship.

I’m always gonna the dude that advocates on behalf of melody and noticeable sonic sincerity, which would make a gentle track like “On Douglas Pond” be among the more appealing to me personally.  Don’t get it twisted – I like the intense tracks that Visual Music started up with for sure, but I react the same way in listening to any of the guitar-based greats like Vai or Satriani or Johnson, or instrumentally-based giants like Mogwai or Tortoise too.  It’s also why I completely agree with what Doug had to say in writing “it does not matter how others perceive or accept your art” in the notes that came along with this album too.  I’m not gonna be the guy to tell you that “On Douglas Pond” IS a better song than the rest and simply leave it at that – honestly, that’s not how I feel, nor would I ever say anything like that to begin with.  I think that, if you like the more delicate side of sound and melody, chances are, you’ll find yourself as attached to the stunning beauty of a song like “On Douglas Pond” like I was & be enchanted by it.  Most days, I’d probably feel like this would be right up there in my top three favorites from this album – but that’s only my opinion, and just like the taste-buds on our tongues, what we like having in our ears can change just as easily.  There will be many days where my mood will want something more decidedly aggressive like “Pursuit” or powerfully versatile like “The Sorcerer’s Audition.”  Doesn’t make “On Douglas Pond” any less perfectly played on those days where I do feel like that, make sense?  All we can ever do as artists, no matter what our art is, is put our heads down, do the work, and be responsible to ourselves in doing the best we can with it.  Doug & Oleh put their hearts right into “On Douglas Pond” and we can truly feel that as we listen to it…it’s a beautifully evocative composition through & through.

I find tracks like “Urban Dossier 8F” to be compelling…which I dig.  While I’m less sure about that quality necessarily equating to accessibility when it comes to how the masses tend to listen to music, I still think there’s value in anything that’s naturally interesting to our ears.  “Urban Dossier 8F” has a sleek and sly design to it, and provides a solid mix of mystery & entertainment all rolled into one.  I’m probably gonna have to advocate on behalf of Damiano once again stealing the show for me personally when it comes to adding in that Hammond organ he’s rockin’ with…but as you’ll find with any of the songs on Visual Music, there’s always a true balance of power & strengths on display.  Oleh’s guitars are as excellent as they always are…Doug continually provides the atmosphere & the character into what we hear…and the guest appearance of Ivan Krnic on bass this time around is also exceptional.  As always, lots to love about the way the instrumentation comes out, and uniqueness to be found within the core concept in the music as well.  A lot of the notes that come along with this record hint at where each song could find its own successful audience and/or placement…”Urban Dossier 8F” says “spies, intrigue, cool funk” – I wouldn’t dispute any of that when it comes right down to it…that assessment makes sense to my ears.  Maybe this becomes part of the intro or soundtrack to the next show that resembles something like Miami Vice or Knight Rider…somewhere along those thriller/mystery kind of lines one day…who knows?

“La La Chillax” once again, sounds very much like its description promises:  “No place to go, no time to be there, going with the flow.”  You’ll find no dissent from me.  It actually reminds me quite a bit of the music that was surrounding me on vacation in Mexico not too long ago, which is certainly comforting.  It’s very much laidback, which is great on one hand of course – I think there’s always a time & a place for that – but of course the flipside to that aspect is usually that there’s a bit less identity on display too, which I’d argue is probably the only thing really working against “La La Chillax.”  You might not realize that it’s Augustwolf that you’re listening to…but if they’re truly not worried about what people do or don’t think about it as they’ve indicated, they should have no problem at all with listeners simply enjoying what they hear and its identity being more generic in that regard.  “La La Chillax” could be many bands & artists out there…it would be tough to tag this directly to Augustwolf, but they’ve clearly reconciled with that already, which is great.  Music for music’s sake, art for art’s sake, and nothing more – no credits are really necessary at all when you look at things from that perspective, which I respect.  We put things out into the world as creative-types, and if people happen to respond to it, fantastic – it shouldn’t really affect us either way.  That being said, Manuel Trabbuco deserves a shout-out anyway for the stellar saxophone he contributes to “La La Chillax” – I love what I hear from that instrument on this tune, in addition to the jaw-dropping awesomeness of the way that Oleh plays his guitar once again.

I really loved what I heard on “Soften The Hammer” and would put this track right up there with the best of the best on this record as far as my own personal opinion is concerned.  It’s the only cut that I felt didn’t really match the description…”shades of the old west and the hard work of so many” – but maybe you’ll feel differently than I did.  A description isn’t usually gonna be necessary or the lynchpin of how we react or respond to music anyhow, so I suppose take it with a grain of salt.  Trust the word of a guy that basically writes out some kind of description on music of all kinds every single day of his life and has for a decade – words are a secondary element at the very best & more often than not, unnecessary when it comes to what people choose to listen to.  “Soften The Hammer” sounded like a real hybrid between the art of classical composition and modern-day music – and I feel like the balance it possesses is certain to appeal to many people beyond just me.  There’s a real magic to this tune that works brilliantly…Doug’s given this track a genuinely orchestral vibe to it that you can hear would have the potential for becoming even bigger and more expansive than we currently hear it in this recorded version.  It’s always a great thing to have opportunities for a song to live multiple lives.  As it stands right now, it’s already excellent & contains a real sweetness to it between its where-bold-meets-delicate vibe, and if Reid is feeling so inclined, he could continue to expand this track even further in a live setting.  It’s an exquisitely expressive composition that I think will resonate strongly in the hearts & minds listening.

“Blockster” is fun, and it’s intended to be.  Could it have been longer than the fifty-seven seconds that it is?  Sure!  I ain’t complaining though…it does what it came to do, presents ya with (nearly) “sixty seconds of Kaiju,” and provides ya with an epic amount of sound within such a short timeframe.  A track that’s played by Augustwolf’s two main components of Oleh on guitar and Doug on “everything else” – they’ve left no doubt throughout the course of this record that they make for an extremely reliable team when it comes to how they collaborate & work together.  It should be noted that Oleh is located in Ukraine, and Doug is in the USA…so that presents a whole wealth of challenges to begin with, let alone the fact that Andrievsky’s country has been ravaged by war times for the past year-plus.  It’s more than commendable to hear how complete a record like Visual Music has been and how dedicated they’ve been to each and every moment they’ve played on it.  Even on short tracks like “Blockster,” what they’ve done speaks volumes on behalf of their passion and all that they’ve put into this album, 100%.

All-in-all, they’ve accomplished a whole lot throughout this record to be proud of, and like great art of any kind – it represents itself proudly.  Visual Music doesn’t need my words of support or confirmation, or anyone else’s for that matter…those that ‘get it,’ are certain to enjoy it for a whole plethora of reasons, and justifiable ones in the discussion of what really makes art resonate and connect to us.  I love what they’ve done on “Here I Stand” towards the end of the album – this would be another track that I’d readily put up there with the best of the best, and that’s very much due to the strength of the violins provided by Irina Markevich & Joylin – they’re extraordinarily gifted players and add powerfully moving moments to this song.  I’ll put it to ya this way…it simply wouldn’t be the same without’em, you know?  There are lots of tunes on any given record where you might feel like one piece or instrument could be replaced with this or that – and what I’m tellin’ ya is that what Irina & Joylin bring to the music of “Here I Stand” is absolutely irreplaceable.  The last twenty seconds or so specifically, is nothing short of mesmerizing, captivating, and all-out breathtaking…the whole song is stunningly gorgeous from start to finish without a doubt, but all six players combined create a truly sensational finale for “Here I Stand.”

Word on the street is that it took them “weeks to generate” the video for “Ukraine Peace And War” through AI…which is oddly kind of comforting given the fact that we hear everything AI does is created within mere minutes & seconds most of the time as it comes to replace us human beings in all that we do.  Anyhow…it worked out great – and of course, the relevance of a song like this, not only to both Doug and Oleh, but to the world overall, cannot be denied.  I love how they give you what seems like chapters of sound here…the beautiful serenity of peace at the start…the malevolent shift into intensely aggressive moments afterwards that would represent the war-time of the present, complete with distant explosions in the background…but perhaps most importantly, the switch back into the peaceful beginning of this song before it’s all over, symbolizing how the calm WILL eventually return to Ukraine.  Armed with purpose and passion, in addition to the impeccable skills they’ve brought with them to every moment we’ve heard throughout this whole record, “Ukraine Peace And War” becomes one of the most undeniably defining songs of Visual Music, and one of the most vividly clear when it comes to the subject & theme that has inspired it.  They could very well be up for some awards when considering how this song has come out in that regard…it’s built with seriously thought-provoking integrity, gripping instrumentation, and professional execution that is absolutely second to none.  I suppose it’s the audible difference between hearing a song with a description provided to ya, and a track like “Ukraine Peace And War” that you couldn’t possibly mistake for being about anything other than exactly what you hear.  It’s definitely a monumental track to go out on, and wraps this debut from Augustwolf up on what could arguably be its most memorable highlight/reason to return to Visual Music for another deserved spin.

Find out more about Augustwolf from the official website at:  http://www.augustwolf.com

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