THERE IS AN END TO EVERYTHING

- The First Review for this Artist - Vyachelav Potapov (VP) from Kazakhstan makes his instrumental music all by himself. Guitar, bass and programming are listed on the album info, but the sound is more varied (ie. not so clearly guitar-emphasized) than what one could expect from that listing. Of course it is also more or less synthetic, artificial, as opposed to a more organic sound. [Note: All VP albums are available digitally only. They however have pretty fine cover designs too, so I decided to stretch from my principle of not making reviews based on downloads, and - with kind help from the artist - made a couple of VP discs for my use.]

This album is one of the two released in 2004 after the psychedelic debut the year before, starting a growing orientation towards progressive jazz/fusion style. But since the music really cannot be pigeonholed into one subgenre, Eclectic Prog is a valid choice. There are also flavours of Avant-Prog and electronic music. The 8-minute opening track 'The Man from Sand' is an interesting, sonically colourful prog piece. Especially I like the sharp guitar sound reminiscent of the one in 'Sleepless' by the 80's King Crimson. The second, short track is more restricted but it's followed by the largest piece 'The Observer in a Shadow' (11:22). It is pleasantly spatial, rooted on a steady bass motif. Wait a minute, no real drums used? They do sound real to me. The wide sound pallette features (digitally made) horns, reeds and a glockenspiel. The composition has an intense climax of 2-3 minutes which I personally don't enjoy, it sounds a bit noisy and embarrassing.

The briefest one, 'The Fiery Butterfly', feels more like a little sonic excercise than a finished piece, and the 7-minute 'Difficultly Plaited' is where I begin to lose my interest quite badly. Complex, haphazard melodies for the sake of complexity, to me void of emotional meaning. The title track in the end is another highlight in its moody sensitivity. It is calm, electronic music that reminds me of e.g. NIK TYNDALL, or SOFTWARE, ASHRA and other numerous, usually German artists that have been released in the -IC- (Innovative Communication) label.

A bravely eclectic album, to say the least. One may miss the lack of the more organic overall sound (that especially all the jazzy nuances remind one of), and here and there the introvert music may not make much (emotional) sense to the listener. 2½ stars rounded up for beautiful cover art.