Aesthesys

“Great heroes need great sorrows and burdens, or half their greatness goes unnoticed. It is all part of the fairy tale.” American fantasist and novelist Peter S. Beagle claimed in his 1968 bestseller The Last Unicorn. Without sorrows and burdens, how would we learn to rise above? How would we learn to ascend to something greater, something that was once considered unattainable? Life’s best stories are those where we grab our demons by the horns, those where we realize that we are all in charge of our own destiny and fate, allowing us to transcend the inherent limitations of humanity. As we speak, people all over the world are telling stories, and every single one of those stories needs a hero. Are you up for the task? AESTHESYS’ new album Ascendere, which releases September 19th on dunk!records, will strengthen you along the way.

This invitation to go and create one’s own life path is apparent in two distinct tracks on the album: Moving Forward and Anemoi. These songs will leave you with the feeling that nothing is beyond you, that the sky is the limit. The fabulous album artwork by Californian illustrator Brian Luong takes it a step further: the sky is only the beginning, as depicted in a series of beautifully drawn images that show a convoy of sailing vessels plowing through the clouds, ascending to the sun. This heroic scene couldn’t be more fitting to the music on AESTHESYS’ fourth full-length studio album. Moscow-based multi-instrumentalist and band founder Nickholas Koniwzski once articulated the concept as follows during a 2012 interview: “Listen to good music and remember that there’s a whole universe of things to discover – go and explore it.”

Moving Forward, the opening track on the album, starts off with a monotonous dark drone, but quickly evolves into a gorgeous keyboard-piano ensemble. The guitar chords introduce a hint of EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY, while the drums round off by adding a layer of drama to the equation. Night falls, and the song turns into a lullaby, with Nickholas’ violin strokes floating like feathers on a gentle breeze. The violin plays a more prominent role on Ascendere than on previous AESTHESYS albums, referencing the fact that Nickholas Koniwzski was once a promising classical violinist.

The second track notable track, Anemoi, is arranged in a rather fragmented way. The song starts with a piano melody that could easily be the intro to a COLDPLAY song. Luckily, the violin steps in after a short while, adding credibility and richness to the arrangement. The most interesting bit, though, is the YNDI HALDA-style apex. All pieces of the puzzle fall into place as the song erupts in sheer beauty. The track ends in a mysterious almost-silence, with only a minimalistic composition of drum and synth sounds filling the room.

In a way, this album is reminiscent of the 1998 DreamWorks Animation movie The Prince of Egypt. Both the album and the movie tell authentic, vivid stories in a modern, contemporary way. The movie succeeded in translating an ancient religious story into something people of all ages enjoyed, whereas the album delivers a modern neoclassical post-rock sound that does not neglect authentic elements in both sound and artwork. The biggest resemblance, though, is that both feature heroes. Everyday people like you and me who understand the importance of ascending, surpassing something bigger than ourselves. All aboard! Get ready to set sail for the sun. - Nothing but Hope and Passion

My first exposure to Aesthesys came last year when I stumbled upon their 2011 album ‘Camera Obscura’ while doing some research on post-rock bands in Russia. Last year Postrockstar had a firm policy that we wouldn’t be reviewing any albums released prior to 2012 as to not open up our site to a sea of older content, instead focusing on newly released albums in order to only promote bands actively releasing material. So while ‘Camera Obscura’ was a gorgeous album that made a blip on my radar, it never made it to the site. Now that we’re up to our ears in 2013 music as you might be able to tell from the more frequent posts as we wrap up 2013 I’m glad to finally be able to tackle Aesthesys’s latest album, ‘Ascendere’ which came out in September and I’m absolutely in love with.

This is the seventh release by the band that began as a one man project in 2007. Five years later this Moscow gem has evolved into a full-fledged six member band and this is their first studio release together. The thing I love the most about this album is just how varied each of the five tracks are. At 31 minutes this album is the perfect length to easily digest and get into. One of the first things I was drawn to was the excellent production on this album. ‘Camera Obscura’ had excellent production as well, but ‘Ascendere’ just feels so rich and full of layers on top of layers brilliantly harmonizing and working in tune with one another, creating reach ambient soundscapes with a post-rock flair.

Deep bassy synths and fluttering keyboards welcome us to ‘Ascendere’ with the opening song “Moving Forward.” Electronic beats push their way forward into the mix before the track really opens up with a couple guitar layers; one softer and one distorted, before we are played to a finish of keys and well placed violin that compliments the bands styling impressively. One of the things that Aesthesys does well here is the ability to free flow from softer ambient passages to heavier post-rock offerings and back again without really creating any waves in the pattern. “Arise From Dreams of thee’ is a much differently composed track, this time opening with beautiful piano amidst ambience before being joined by a low-key bass line and a steady yet prominent beat. The intensity of urgent violin work against the aggressive drumming makes for a very unique and memorable track. A finale sees spiraling crescendo guitar work loom in the background as the track comes to a close.

The song that’s really stuck with me the most on this album is ‘Anemoi’ which starts off at a much quicker pace than the previous tracks with repetitively soothing piano, dashing synths and violin work that plays opposite of more spiraling crescendo guitar. It’s oddly refreshing that the two weren’t mixed in separate channels as most post-rock bands tend to opt to do. This track evolves into a full fledged post-rock jam that sees the band’s full spectrum of potential really come to life. Every layer of guitar, percussion, bass, synths, keyboards and violin just meshes extraordinarily well to create this violent explosion of sound like no other. Moving forward, I’m really not quite sure what to make of “La Torre Del Silenzio” except that it’s very different than anything else found on this album and I find it quite charming. I am eerily reminded of the distant digital land of Spira in Final Fantasy X, because that is exactly where this keyboard dominant ambient track leads my mind. This song is one that could easily be dropped into any Playstation RPG video game as an overworld or background music and it would be right at home.

The closing song of the album “Sailing to Constantinople” is also the longest track at nearly 8 minutes. A slow build up of percussion rumbling, somber violin and elegant guitar work sets the mood. A Smooth bass line really does wonders in complimenting the rest of the instruments around it and is the real understated star here. This is the only track on the album that feels remotely of Russian influence, which tends to be easily identifiable to me on most releases from that part of the globe. I would have liked to see a much stronger finish to close the album out, but I’m picky and the band already proved capable of really ramping up their sound in ‘Anemoi’.

At the thirty minute mark or so and featuring five extremely different tracks, I don’t find my mind wandering much throughout this album, unlike ‘Camera Obscura’ which clocked in at almost an hour and almost always induced thought-provoking daydreaming with each listen. I tend to think of post-rock with neoclassical influence and/or string instruments as noble and place it on a pedestal much higher than the more modern third-wave stylings of big guitar crescendo and distortion driven tracks. Whenever I review an album like ‘Ascendere’ I expect so much more out of them than a standard album. In that aspect, I think Aesthesys has shined at incorporating these elements into a more traditional post-rock sound. In another light, I feel like their best work is ahead of them and that this album is just a taste of what’s to come from a band who’s potential is as bright as sun on the album cover. After seven albums and six years, Aesthesys is better than ever and I’m really looking forward to seeing where their ship sails to next. - POST-ROCK STAR

“Ascendere” is the latest release by [ Aesthesys ]. An album that has been in production and in the making for the past 6 to 7 months and it’s finally out. That said I am utterly proud and delighted to be the one to announce this marvellous piece of work. Like many other outfits, since the very beginning [ Aesthesys ] has always been a priority artist for us on TSS. From their 2008 Demo to their 2013 title “Ascendere” the band like many other’s (for sure) has encounter endless challenges on their way but today almost five years after their demo I can stand head high and say the band has truly bloomed into something totally outstanding and EPIC. Listening is believes here.
From the opening track “Moving Forward”, [ Aesthesys ] creates an enjoyable experience with talent and precision. Beautiful guitars / violin with an orchestral built are the core elements of the album. I have to say even if you are someone who predominantly enjoys listening to larger instrumental / post-rock acts such as GYBE and Mogwai where the experimental side of the sound is simply way above everything you can possibly imagine, [ Aesthesys ] on the other hand uses a slightly similar approach but with the intention of making it an easy-digest, where nothing is too loud or too dark or even too noisy. Trust me when I say this release holds the perfect balance between all elements which in this case the five pillars of “Ascendere” are experimental, instrumental, ambient, post-rock and orchestral.
I’ve been listening to “Ascendere” in HIGH quality over and over again for the last 3 to 4 months before its street date, which is today the 19th of SEPT 2013 and even after dozens of thorough listening I still cannot justify this release track by track as the album is simply a whole and complete listen from the word go. Each track leads to the other in a gentle and smooth way while keeping you in the same smooth up and low trance. The best part about “Ascendere” is the instrumental / violin side. On pieces like “Arise From Dreams Of Thee” and “Anemoi” it’s more like the instruments are literally talking to you.
La Torre Del Silenzio is where you can catch a breath on this album as its where the bands makes a grand attempt to erase your mind and wipe out your memories by focussing on an ambientscape voyage. In a nutshell if you up for some ABSOLUTE EPIC guitars, violin, piano, bass, drums, percussion and distortion, well look no further as you’ve found it and it is [ Aesthesys – Ascendere ]. By all means / do not skip and be prepare to set your listening devices on repeat play as it’s the only way to go on this one. [ 10 Out Of 10 ] in every angles. - Humming Frequencies

We check out Aesthesys, the Russian masters of post rock. Read more here.

Aesthesys are true musical pioneers, who have taken post-rock to an entirely new level. The music is fused with ambient and neoclassical influences, which when balanced with the group's almost scientific approach to music creates a sound unlike anything else at the moment. The group is an instrumental outfit based in Moscow, and began as Nik Koniwzski's solo project back in 2007.

After a while, it became a quartet, and earlier this year, the group became a sextet to record their new album “Ascendere” (which is available here). Other members of the band are Arsentiy Karpov, Dmitry Solopov, Eldar Ferzaliev, Ivan Lubiany, and Victor Krabovich.

The name comes from the acronym AESTHE (An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything), which compliments the experimental nature of the Russian group. In contrast to other post-rock groups, Aesthesys compose ambient pieces to give a sense of environment, rather than the progression which is found in bands such as Explosions In The Sky.

The group are on the rise, and show no sign of slowing down in their creative capacities. This is a band for lovers of post-rock, ambient music, trance, experimental, classical, and pretty much all music. - St Pauls Lifestyle

Уже сегодня вечером в московском клубе «ЛЕС» на Лесной улице состоится старт «азиатского» мини-тура группы Aesthesys — эмоциональный пост-рокеров с большим опытом. Уже на первом альбоме «Ascendere» они попали в руки британского звукоинженера Йена Шеппарда, который работал с Deep Purple, Keane и King Crimson. Его резюме говорит о том, что Йен имеет богатый опыт в конструировании торжественного и очень эмоционального саунда, так что Aesthesys осталось только правильно впитать совместный опыт работы.

Также становлению группы посопособствовало общением с бельгийским лейблом dunk! records. Благодаря ему удалось осуществить первый европейский тур, по сути изменивший все. Был и совместный концерт с грандами пост-рока вроде God Is An Astronaut и And So I Watch You From Apart на dunk! festival в бельгийской деревушке Зоттегем. Летом 2015 года состав группы подвергся изменениям (ушли барабанщик и басист), так что настало время новых экспериментов и гастрольных приключений. Одним из их станет первый «азиатский» тур группы.

15 сентября музыканты выступят при поддержке Siberia*, тур пройдет по 8 городам Китая и закончится 30 сентября в клубе BSB во Владивостоке. Aesthesys подготовили специальную программу, включив в нее как старый материал, так и новые композиции, которые войдут в будущий альбом, а также несколько совершенно новых треков. - Rolling Stone

Aesthesys, hailing from Moscow, Russia, have seen both a growth in scope and in band members since their inception in 2007. Forming as a solo project, Aesthesys is now a sextet embracing post-rock, ambient, and neo-classical influences. We are happy to present their newest single Marea, which shows the band at its most grandiose and visceral.

Mixed and mastered by Jamie Ward of Maybeshewill, Marea is the first taste of the new Aesthesys material since their album Ascendere in 2013, which makes this single feel like a true evolution and full actualization of their sound. Listen below!



Marea is a special release because it is a 2-part single, featuring “Marea crescente” and “Bassa marea”. “Marea” is Italian for the movement of water, or tide, which plays a direct theme on both songs. “Marea crescente”, or rising tide, starts off quiet but upbeat, mimicking the slow burn of the fire rumbling inside. The track tussles, turns, and wanes as much as the oceanic giants themselves, and the feeling produced is entirely opposite to that of thalassophobia. The ascension of “Marea crescente” is apparent in the song structure as well, reaching an explosive summit by the last minute of the song – the fire inside is now released, showcasing the hallmark of a climactic end.

“Bassa marea”, or low tide, is the reprise of the Marea single. Dominated by strings and piano, this song feels much more relaxed and free-flowing, representing the calmer seas that glisten with light from the Moon. The violin and cello hold the listener’s attention on “Bassa marea”, making it a more neo-classically driven song than “Marea crescente”. This track might not be as energetic as its predecessor, but it is no less interesting because of it. Both songs show off the differing musical abilities of the band whilst finding a way to relate to a poignant theme of the sea. If the ocean itself has hardly been explored, I hope the same goes for Aesthesys. I am eager to discover more about the band’s music, whether it be uncharted territory or familiar waters, and Marea has left me hungry for more. - Arctic Drones

At its very foundation, Aesthesys is one of the unique outfits with an efficient ability of conjuring an accurate orchestral waves in its music. Given a closer analysis in terms of the band latest single “Marea” and what it invokes in the sense of feelings and emotions:
Very often we get musically drawn to bigger post-rock and ambient performers such as “Hammock” or “Lights Out Asia”; but what we tend to miss is… those iconic monikers are driven towards unusual but gorgeous song structures rather than an orchestrated work. They are big on textures ( no doubt about that ), but they also feed on the traditional rock instruments. With Aesthesys, you get a sound that is more enduring, it pertains less of this same noticeable formula, which by the way leads to the type of sound that characterize the meaning of Grand Beauty.
Let’s focus on the 01st track; “Marea crescente” is a distinctive climax on this single, the track features a persuasive structure with escalated drums merging with flurrying guitar and immaculate violin tunes. Once it hits the midpoint, it feels and sounds like the band is in full mode creating an epic atmosphere with a turbulence strong enough to shatter your surroundings. This song is a wise choice for a single, and it’s certainly one of the best and most intense track I’ve heard in a long time.
From the band point of view, “in general, the concept of “Marea” leans towards poetry of water. The first track “Marea crescente” is about its paradoxical power. Despite the fact that water keeps a fluid form, it can influence just about anything that comes along its way. Like waves, it’s always changing and moving ( chaos at its finest, one may say ). The 2nd track however is more about unveiling hidden things. Waters retreat, exposing the ground with hidden treasures that rested on the seabed just moments before. Sometimes these landscapes and things look different from what they were before the sea devoured them in the first place, when high tide came”.
Given the art, titles and tracks' dynamics I think we are in the clear to say that the band approach is a hell of a lot more obvious as opposed to its predecessor album “Ascendere”. “Marea crescente” is Italian for “High Tide”, “Bassa marea” can be translated as “Low Tide” and just “Marea” stands for “tide”, “sea” or “waves”. Also, to be NOTED: the mixing and mastering is done by Jamie Ward of “Maybeshewill”. This should leave you guessing what's coming your way. And if that’s not enough, do expect a new LP from Aesthesys real soon. - Humming Frequencies

历史上俄罗斯是一个骁勇善战的民族，无止境的侵略扩张、武力反对外来侵袭与殖民，然而这群东斯拉夫人也有温柔的面相。在古典音乐里，他们有柴可夫斯基这样的奠基人，斯特拉文斯基、肖斯塔科维奇、拉赫玛尼诺夫这样的古典名家；在舞蹈上，他们有享誉世界的芭蕾舞，即便芭蕾舞并不诞生于该国度，但是它在俄国实现了表演舞蹈的转型，代表作有《天鹅湖》、《睡美人 》、《胡桃夹子》等；在文学上，他们有数不尽的璀璨、耀眼的大师，列夫·托尔斯泰、普希金、莱蒙托夫、陀思妥耶夫斯基、契诃夫、索尔仁尼琴、纳博科夫等。

这是一个强大的邻国，最起码在文化上是这样的，即便是在当下他们仍然非常优秀。俄罗斯的现代音乐除来了受传统的民间音乐和宗教音乐、古典音乐影响之外，还兼容并蓄的融入了西方的摇滚乐，北欧的民谣音乐等，并逐渐形成自己的特色。俄罗斯的音乐形态多样，摇滚、独立、流行、另类、金属、电子、实验等应有尽有。值得一提的是俄罗斯是世界上最早出现、并公开表演电子音乐的国家之一。

Nickholas Koniwzski从小便在文化氛围浓厚的莫斯科长大。作为一个90后，他身上带有的随性气质随处可见。几乎让人联想不到，他成长在曾经的铁幕与强权的政治中心。Nickholas从小学习古典音乐，作为科班出生的小提琴手。他并不愿意过多的谈论自己早年学习的经历，他坦言，作为一个孩子，其实我并不特别喜欢这种刻板、系统的音乐教育，所以在我14岁的时候，我主动放弃继续学习古典音乐。随后的两年时间里我没有做任何很跟音乐有关的事情，直到我的一个朋友让我深深地迷恋上了电吉他。

小提琴让他接触到了古典音乐，而电吉他让他进入了摇滚乐的世界。在迷恋上电吉他之后，他给自己买了一把非常便宜的电吉他。他说，现在看来那把吉他简直是糟糕透了，但当时我非常高兴能拥有一件自己主动喜欢并演奏的乐器。不久之后，他开始学习弹一些喜欢的歌，意识到自己在练习的过程中有很多有意思的想法冒出来，于是有了组建乐队的打算，Aesthesys便从空想变为了现实。

Nickholas虽然年纪不大，但是对于经营团队倒是很有经验。他告诉我，在经营乐队的这几年里，他明白了一件非常重要的事情，要想把事情做得更好、更专业，就必须找一些志同道合的人跟自己一起创作。就像他在中国巡演的宣传片里所讲到的，我们的音乐旅程在我们遇见彼此之前就开始了，也是在那时我们第一次意识到我们对音乐的热爱，它是一种能够让我们比任何其它方式表达得都要多的东西。

从2008年发行第一张Demo到现在，Aesthesys经历了几任团员的更替，但是他们的音乐核心一直没有变。Nickholas逐一向我介绍了乐团目前的成员，Eldar是乐团的吉他手，也是他邀请加入乐团的第一人。键盘手Victor是2013参与欧洲巡演时加入的，自从Nickholas在乐队里改拉小提琴之后，Victor接任了他吉他手的位置。贝斯手Sasha是去年冬天加入Aesthesys的，那时候乐团的第一任鼓手和贝斯手相继离开了Aesthesys。我们需要寻找新鲜的血液来使乐队恢复活力。鼓手Nikita是今年5月份才加入的。

与其它乐队不一样的是，Aesthesys还有一位不是乐手的成员，即调音师Ivan。我挺诧异的，此前我从没有见过哪支乐队把调音师作为正式成员的，而且还在宣传照上出现。Nickholas笑着说，这很奇怪吗？Ivan在乐队里的角色太重要了，从唱片录制到演出现场每一环节都少不了他。不仅仅是乐队音乐工程师而且还是一个相当棒的制作人、调音师，当然，他应该是Aesthesys不可或缺的一部分。

早年Nickholas一直是个卧室DIY音乐人，喜欢捣腾各种有意思的声音。在Aesthesys之外也有许多其它音乐项目。在采访中他告诉我，目前他把所有的心思都放在Aesthesys上。例如准备接下来的第一次亚洲巡演以及新专辑的创作。2年前他跟朋友做了一个音乐项目Murmur，在这之前他常常用一些不同的名字发表一些lo-fi试验作品，例如kawataro (kawataro.bandcamp.com)。也时常作为客座小提琴手参与朋友专辑的录制。

Aesthesys在音乐上的求新求变，在已发行的几张唱片上便能看出。当我提及是否在音乐上受到前辈乐团的影响时。Nickholas给了一个玄之又玄的回答。他说，任何我们听过的东西都会对自己产生影响，因为我们在音乐中不断接触并诞生新的想法。而与他个人而言，听者与音乐家之间是迥然不同的。因为我真的不喜欢做一个听众，然而与此同时作为一个音乐家我没办法第一时间捕捉到我喜欢的音乐的本质。过去5年里，前卫、实验风格的音乐几乎占据了我整个音乐播放列表。但是随着时间的流逝，我们的风格也同样有微妙的变化，就目前已发行的唱片来看，你会发现一些很有意思的迹象，因为我们不想一成不变，老是玩着同样的东西。


2014年Aesthesys登上世界上最大的后摇音乐节dunk!festival，并与多位世界级后摇大牌乐队"God Is An Astronaut", "And So I Watch You From Afar","Ef", "Sleepmakeswaves"等同台表演。dunk!festival是乐队所在唱片厂牌dunk! Records举办的音乐节。Nickholas向我讲述了他们与dunk! Records渊源。2013年，他们想在欧洲同步发行EP Ascendere。当时他们的工作档期非常紧密，以致专辑没能在春天同步发行。同年9月dunk! Records发行了这张EP，并且带来了非常不错的口碑，虽然等了大半年，在他看来一切都非常值得。第二年乐队展开了欧洲巡演，dunk! Records也帮了他们很多的忙。dunk! Records是一个极其优秀、专业的音乐厂牌，我们非常荣幸能在它旗下发行自己的唱片。

近年俄罗斯来华演出的后摇团不少，我想试着打探一下后摇团在俄罗斯国内是一个什么的状态。然而Nickholas给我的回复完全在我的意料之外，“我可以很坦诚地说，事实上这里并没有看上去很繁荣的后摇音乐场景。作为一个摇滚乐流派，这里几乎没有任何凝固的后摇音乐场景和受众。虽然我们当前有一些伟大的后摇乐团，但他们都没有做典型的后摇滚了。”

虽然Nickholas对俄罗斯的后摇音乐场景有那么一点儿心灰意冷，但是当我向他谈起中国的后摇音乐时，他一下子就从刚才的低迷状态中苏醒了。他告诉我中国的后摇有一股强大的吸引力，而且相比俄罗斯中国的后摇音乐场景更加繁荣，质量更高。他说他喜欢沼泽和惘闻，并猜测他们肯定也是中国后摇的现场之王。他还喜欢听48V，时过夏末，文雀等国内知名后摇乐团。


(Aesthesys|照片由秀动提供)

对于接下来的中国巡演Nickholas有一种按捺不住的欣喜。他告诉我此前他们只在欧洲做过大量的巡演，但从未涉足过亚洲，虽然常有台湾和中国大陆的乐迷到他们的脸书专页留言期待他们来演出，但一直都没有成行。而接下来的9月中国巡演对于刚入团的成员来说是一次非常好的锻炼与磨合。除了给大家带来一些以前不常表演的老歌之外，久为发片的他们也会让中国的乐迷抢先聆听他们新专辑的歌曲，让大家一饱耳福。

Nickholas说，“做音乐最大的收获之一，就是能有一些特别的机会去造访新的地方，遇见一些奇妙的人。并与他们分享一些能增进了解、提升世界观的事情，以及遇见所有住在这个美丽星球里的美丽个体”。 - 落网 - 独立音乐推荐