Hailing from Switzerland, let’s give a big Ark of Music “HELLO” to Roland Bühlmann – an amazing guitarist (actually, a multi-instrumentalist) and composer creating incredible music in the progressive rock/ jazz fusion/ sound environment vein. Boasting a five-album catalog beginning in 2015, Bühlmann recently completed album number six, Figurative – an inventive, rollercoaster-y seven-song masterwork, and of course, the subject of this review. So, is Figurative the adventurous, tightly played stuff on par with the unmistakable musicality and spirit-enriching melody found in such lofty god-tier genres? Let’s talk about it.
Wait. Who plays what?
Although Roland regularly utilizes other musicians, he tackled this one himself.
Per Roland, “I play electric and bass guitars, aeon sustainer, Korg MS-20, logic software synthesizer, voice (1, 7), kalimba (2, 6), kinnor (3, 4), bullroarer (3) and various objects as percussion. I use techniques that were already used in very old music: Counterpoint, modality, Polyphony. But also newer techniques such as polyrhythms, fourth chords, fifth chords, riffs, patterns and improvisation. The style is again somewhere between prog and fusion with spherical elements.”
Listening, and talking about it.
The album begins with “Pareidolia,” and after a passing jet engine, a grooving bass arrives with incongruent electric guitar harmonies (think the guitar solo from Yes’s “Owner of a Lonely Heart”). And then it’s a soundscape with rushing engines and a great developing riff. Blistering guitar runs occur in those conflicting harmonics, and a cleaner electric plinks away into a vast, echoing hall.
We’ve entered a world of smoke-stack-belching machines and scraping, peeling metal; the gates to Figurative have officially opened.
The title track presents a drum pattern and pulsing guitar droplets within a spiraling space filled with gleaming shrapnel clusters. The panic subsides, briefly, as sections arrive and dissipate, stating their nervousness in clever phrases and stepping aside for the next bit of colliding, floating metals and their spark-inducing trauma. This is a great, chaotic piece that provides exceptional playing and ominous world-building.
“Visions” enters with an ascending automated engine and lightly touched guitar chords. And then we’re granted higher guitar notes reminiscent of Robert Fripp’s tonal palette. The spiraling, spacious murkiness is present, the chaotic guitar splurges grasping for attention, until, at about 2:32…things relax. Decompress. The percussion is softer; the sounds and melody more environment-building than statement-making. At about 4:29, a quickly paced guitar pattern emerges from the colossal, echoing space; perhaps a bit of light, peace, and familiar sonic shaping to anchor one to the song’s boldly changing propositions.
Melodic, harmonizing, Fripp-esque guitar calls squeal, and the soothing pattern returns…and dissipates.
“Camouflaging” begins with soft metal percussion, growling guitar impositions, ominous melodic lines, and the occasional, and echoing, gong. The music paints a picture of dangerous journeys through something natural and presumed harmless….but deeply rooted in layers unseen and darkly strategic. And after a quickly cut cacophony and a bit of “surfer guitar,” a softer layer frees itself from its sickly skin. A shimmering, again returning to cacophony, ends in multi-tracked and delay-drenched windchime spasms and ….a middle-eastern guitar? Hmmm. Interesting indeed.
“Hesychasm” is a smoother number with an undercurrent of Mellotron-esque strings. This pseudo-peace ends, however, with growling swishes and diabolical guitar. And after an especially chaotic tantrum, harmonizing guitars carry us on wind-sailing boats to song’s end.
What I like about “Exteroception” is the final bits reminiscent of a more modern King Crimson’s chunky guitar making musical muscles as they play. It’s a fair bit of guitar fuzz, distortion, and collision that brings the song to a briefly lingering, layer-stripped end.
Album finale “Onomatopoeic” features lumbering percussion in its sizable theatrical space. A tightly wound guitar entreats the air through which it expresses; the tone and method of attack remind me of renowned and extraordinarily nimble Yes guitarist Steve Howe. This one is a little more brief – it makes a statement in churning, unstable environs with dashes of incredible playing and chaotic but consistent direction. And then….it simply exhales, and vanishes.
But…is it good?
“But is it good?” Listen to yourself. OF COURSE it’s good. In fact, it’s actually quite amazing. Not only is the playing remarkable (as it must be when delving into his preferred genres), the worlds where it occurs are eerily visible thanks to the exceptional and fully realized sound painting. Figurative is introspective, hence why we find ourselves often in the churning void, but there is elegance, speed, and real virtuosity lining the dark, amorphous prisons in bars of beaming gold. Figurative is a place, and how one plays to shape it into something livable; it resists at first, but realizes order is necessary to define chaos. Exemplary musicianship and appreciated proggy experimentation all around. Figurative, my friends, is literally – and highly – recommended.
—-
BELOW: Listen to Roland Bühlmann and check him out on Bandcamp, Facebook, and Instagram. Please support Roland Bühlmann by visiting his website and playing, downloading, and/or purchasing his music. And, as always, thank you for supporting real music.
(Want to have your music reviewed on The Ark of Music? Click HERE.)
Follow, stream, download & connect with ROLAND BÜHLMANN online:
