AQUARIUS

This is the first solo album from Netherland's own Ruud Dielen. He did this all himself playing guitar, synth guitar, bass, synths along with programming including the drums. The name of Ruud's project and the cover art reminded me that I've seen two wolves in my life here in Central Ontario, Canada. The weird thing was it was in the same week about 20 miles from each other. By the way Ruud is an incredible guitarist.

"Aquarius I" opens with a slow and sludgy sound with the guitar crying out over top. It settles back before 2 minutes but not for long. Man this reminds me of BLACK SABBATH before 3 1/2 minutes. "Aquarius II-Bearing The Water" has a lighter sound with guitar and sounds that echo before kicking into a mellow groove. It slows right down after 2 minutes but picks back up quickly.

"Aquarius III-Seeding the Future" has a heavier sound with some complexity as well. The bass, guitar and synths all sound really good here. Lots of punchy sounds along with atmosphere. Faint voices can be heard before 2 minutes as it settles back some. It kicks back in and later on after 3 1/2 minutes the guitar is lighting it up. It settles again a minute later and stays that way to the end.

"Broken Arrow" is fairly spacey with plenty of synths as guitar expressions come and go. "Questions" has these pulsating sounds as synths join in with drums then the guitar starts to solo slowly over top countered with another guitar being picked. An interesting tune but one I'm not really into. "Healing Colours" is one I like better. Kind of a jazzy vibe to my ears with the guitar. Not into those pedestrian drums though. The flavour does change during this song a few times. I like it better 1 1/2 minutes in. The guitar sounds interesting when it joins in over top. Cool track.

"Old Diamonds Shine Brighter" opens with synths that create a powerful atmosphere. This is really good. Lots of spacey sounds and what sounds like flute. The guitar arrives just before 1 1/2 minutes. The guitar sounds like FLOYD around 3 minutes not so surprisingly considering the title of this song. Very "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"-like. Flute comes and goes.

"Shaman's Journey" is mellow with relaxed guitar, bass and more. The length of this song at 4:20 sounds about right considering it's a Shaman(haha). A sampled voice can be heard after 1 1/2 minutes then the guitar comes in as the song brightens pretty much to the end.

I liked this alright but 3 stars is just right for my tastes. Please check this guy out though.