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Raoul Björkenheim — Apocalypso
(Cuneiform Rune 156, 2001, CD)

Apocalypso Cover art

Björkenheim has been a contributor to works by the UMO Jazz Orchestra (covering various Miles Davis pieces), percussionist Paul Schütze's band, and been on the experimental music scene for nearly twenty years. Adapted from his own orchestral arrangement, Apocalypso is now a self performed multi-part piece of gloom and doom. The transition for the composer must have been massive: by down-scaling the scope of the piece the challenge is in how to preserve the intensity of the original live performance made by 42 musicians. From the opening few notes of "Oracle" it's clear that it's going to be a queasy affair! By using a wobbly slide lead guitar the composer has chosen an unsettling sound swirl to supply a dizzying effect. On the short transitional piece, "Rain" the guitarist gets a bit introspective which reminds me of Terje Rypdal's work on ECM (Note: Björkenheim's previous two albums were also on that esteemed label). The title track is clearly the centerpiece of the entire work; with the main theme stated by a grungy lead guitar break like many of Adrian Belew's solo works which are propelled across a relentless driving rhythm track. At times, the presentation is a bit like free jazz icon Derek Bailey's explorations that can grate on your nerves, but in general an identifiable structure is in place. A reprise of the opening Oracle theme closes out the set. Overall the nine tracks embody a fierce anger where the composer shows more than adequate restraint.

by Jeff Melton, Published 2002-04-01

The only other release by Raoul Björkenheim I’ve heard is the collaboration he did with Nicky Skopelitis from 1997. I liked that a lot, but with two guitarists, you never know who’s doing what. This time out, it’s all Björkenheim. Credits are pretty sketchy (“Music by Raoul Björkenheim” is all it says), but I think it’s safe to assume all the guitar parts are his. Many guitarists, given free reign, might produce a shred-fest of fast runs doubled by their own bass playing, power chords and flashy solos. Luckily, that’s not what we have here. Björkenheim’s interests lie more to the sonic possibilities of the guitar as sounds rather than traditional notes. He uses slides both on bass and guitar, and often the noises are mangled beyond certain identification of their sources. The drum parts, which may or may not be programmed (they sound pretty real), focus on throbbing toms, slow and moody as on “Sages” or faster and building to an incredible frenzy on the title track. “Circles” features alternating parts: a brutal chugging dissonance and a spaced-out sustain backed by quiet fiddly notes. My favorite is undoubtedly the title track, which features a chorus of chunky rhythm parts and a wild melody voiced in octaves, maybe like Snakefinger on steroids, and an edgy solo with little respect for such niceties as key signatures, like Henry Kaiser in a really bad mood. This track alone is worth the price of admission.

by Jon Davis, Published 2002-04-01

No, this is not a cover of that famous National Health song... Originally written in 1995, "Apocalypso" is a commissioned piece guitarist / composer Raoul Björkenheim (of Krakatau and Sot among others) wrote for the Helsinki Juhlaviikot Festival in 1996. The premiere performance of this composition involved an interesting ensemble of 30 guitarists, eight bassists, and four percussionists! Amazingly, on this album, Björkenheim performs all the instruments and parts himself. While the guitar is the main focus of the work, the percussion and bass both play important roles as Björkenheim's atypical rhythm section. There isn't much in the way of traditional rock kit drumming and the bass playing doesn't follow traditional norms either. The rhythms are generally much more world-beat sounding and so are the percussion instruments used. For example, traditional Indonesian instruments like gongs and angklung are featured on "Oracle." Several of the pieces have a very trance-like quality about their rhythms and beats — especially the nine-minute title track. "Lament," with its smooth cello, is one of the few tracks where the melody isn't carried by the guitar. And speaking of the guitar, Björkenheim does an amazing job there. "Sages" is a good example of his interesting avant metal playing. "Surf Dance" features slide guitar. He is a truly unique player who smoothly combines elements of heavy rock, jazz, avant garde, ethnic... often in the same piece. And he really never sounds derivative. Apocalypso is definitely worth checking out.

by Mike Grimes, Published 2002-04-01

Filed under: New releases, Issue 24, 2001 releases

Related artist(s): Raoul Björkenheim

More info
http://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/apocalypso

 

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