Brutalism

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 and far between, i am hoping they will return to the sound of the first album. The sooner, the better.