In 2023 Aurora Falls from Poland (Poznań) released their debut album Artificial Empathy (see review). This instrumental band combined elements of post-rock, progressive rock and shoegaze. Now two years later drummer Leszek Drabikowski, bassist Jan Marlewski and the two guitar players Remi Orchowski and Krzysztof Kwita released their second album Maze. The topic on their debut album referred to the future of humanity. Now for their second musical effort they once again chose to come up with a concept. For this concept you have to read first Haruki Murakami's quote: "Has the darkness really disappeared? Or is it inside me, hidden, just waiting to return? Like a clever thief hidden in a house, holding his breath, waiting for everyone to fall asleep. I looked deep inside myself, trying to find what was hidden there. But just as our consciousness is a labyrinth, so is our body. Wherever you turn, there is darkness beyond your field of vision. There are some vague clues everywhere and a surprise awaits everywhere." As for the album and Murakami's quote, the idea was to reflect on human nature, on our hidden fears, suppressed emotions and an attempt to know ourselves. It is a beautiful, metaphorical description of the struggle between consciousness and subconsciousness, between knowledge and ignorance, between what we know and improvisation. It is a journey into the depths of our own psyche, an attempt to discover what is hidden and invisible, but still present. It is a reflection on the nature of the human mind, which even in moments of peace can hide darkness, waiting for the right moment to reveal itself. Work on the album lasted over a year and for them it was precisely this journey into themselves, where sounds sometimes surprise with their harmony and sometimes are typical melodies characteristic of our work to date. This was partly due to well-thought-out solutions and concepts and partly to pure improvisations that are an inseparable component of their attempts. For this second album I can easily copy my review of their debut album. Apparently not much has changed in the years between the two albums. Because at first hearing, musically a lot has apparently remained the same. The two guitarists still determine what should happen musically in the instrumental numbers. The numbers are based on the guitar riffs of both gentlemen and apparently no one has ever heard of a guitar solo. This is a shame because in this way everything sounds the same at first hearing. The guitar riffs keep going on and on. This happens in every number and there is little or no tempo acceleration in the compositions. As a result, there is little or no musical change. This is a shame because the musicians can certainly play their instruments. And just like on their debut, I would have liked to have heard a vocalist to bring a bit more musical variation to the audience. Now the fact arises that after listening for a long time, boredom strikes a bit because little or nothing happens in the tracks you are listening to. That is why it seems as if they have not really learned in the past two years. Nothing has been done with my advice apparently. Of course, this all has to do with the musical style they have chosen. I guess this type of music is what post rock is all about. Mellow songs with hardly any breaks or solos performed on the guitars and keyboards. Just songs which you can dream away on in a pleasant way! But as with most music genres, a style has to suit you or not. As far as I'm concerned, I can listen to this every now and then. But unfortunately, not for long because musically there is too little happening in this music style. For me, music has to be adventurous with many tempo changes and breaks. Many solos on the guitars and keys. A nice rhythm or beat is also not bad. As long as it remains exciting and goes in all directions. And that is what I miss on this album. A little more variation can do a lot for a listener to keep listening to an album until the end, which then remains captivating. For their debut album I was still quite mild in my final judgement. Now I unfortunately have to act a bit unfriendly because I am clearly disappointed in the rest of their career. Of course, I don't want to hurt or anger anyone. But sometimes you have to dare to give an honest judgement as a reviewer because otherwise people are fooled. They think they have done something good that in reality is not true. Or someone who reads the review and feels attracted to the music after my judgement and does not get what is expected musically. A beautiful concept as addressed on this album deserves a better musical approach in my opinion. So, for me the band presented below par and I hope that for their next album they can bring themselves to put some more variation in their music. Guitar solos for example. Or using keys and a singer would not be a miss. But in the end it all comes down to your musical taste and there will certainly be people who will appreciate this music as it is released on their album. Perhaps fans of post-rock and shoegaze will enjoy Maze more than I did. So once again I will say:" Just try it and you can decide yourself if the musicians of Aurora Falls made your musical heart beat a little bit faster." ** Henri Strik (edited by Dave Smith) Where to buy? |
