Created by Vadim Gusis, already known for Chaos As Shelter and member of Agnivolok, Thunderwheel is a particular musical project. Helped out on some tracks by Igor Krutogolov (Kruzenstern & Parohod, Agnivolok, Igor Krutogolov’s Carate Band) and Slava Smelovsky (Grundik + Slava, Crossfishes), Vadim created the eight tracks of CREDO having in mind Zen philosophy and, I think, the particular structure of Japanese/oriental music. The result is a sort of surreal soundtrack where dissonant melodies, whispered vocals, percussive sounds and theremin create an oneiric world made of slow rhythms and strident sounds. Like a nightmarish orchestra Thunderwheel painted their personal picture and it’s all to be discovered…
Review by: Maurizio Pustianaz
From: http://www.chaindlk.com

Kulturterrorismus review of “Credo”, in German
Category: Music

Thunderwheel – Credo
… like Inspector Barnaby
VÖ: 2009 Label: The Eastern Front
Genre: (Dark) Ambient, Experimentell, Industrial Über die israelischen Landesgrenzen hinaus, verdiente sich der Künstler Vadim Gusis viel Anerkennung durch seine Formationen Chaos As Shelter (Begründer) und Agnivolok (Mitglied), womit er vornehmlich avantgardistischen Klängen frönt. Der in Russland geborene und in Israel lebende Akteur startete das Projekt 1999 und ließ es lange in der Ecke verstauben, aber jetzt 2009 sendet er mit dem Album “Credo” ein neues Lebenszeichen aus, welches in eine surrealistische Welt entführt.

Den überwiegenden Teil der Publikation “Credo” spielte der Aktivist ((gesprochener) Gesang, Percussion, Feldaufnahmen, Synthesizer) selbst ein, als “Unterstützungskommando” dienten ihm die Protagonisten Igor Krutogolov (Der Mann mit der singenden Säge!) und Slava Smelovsky (Theremin bzw. Ätherwellengeige), welche jeweils für Akzente innerhalb der Klangcollagen sorgen.

Inhaltlich bewegt sich dieses Opus zwischen den Hallen des Bösen und Guten, welche zudem noch Selbstverarsche, Spuren des Buddhismus wie Hinduismus und Weltfremdheit zutage fördern. Wer gewagte Thematiken präferiert, dem könnte Thunderwheel mit seiner Abgedrehtheit in diesem Punkt gefallen!

Die zu vernehmende Tonkunst auf “Credo” gleicht einem phänomenalen Soundtrack für Inspector Barnaby Filme, die genauso mysteriös wie Thunderwheel aus den Boxen über den Bildschirm flimmern und eine Menge schwarzen Humor transportieren. Vadim Gusis offeriert auf diesem Oeuvre 8 Tracks, die zwischen Sakralität & Surrealismus schwanken und Skurrilität vermitteln, weshalb der Vergleich mit der britischen Krimiserie Inspector Barnaby (Midsomer Murders) definitiv passt, wo ebenfalls Normalität nicht existiert. Des Weiteren basiert die Filmmusik zu Inspector Barnaby auf Tönen, welche ein Theremin bzw. eine Ätherwellengeige hervorbringt, die auch einige Passagen auf “Credo” dominiert, wodurch sich eine weitere Parallele ergibt. Personen, die zwischen leichter Rhythmik und ergreifenden (Dark) Ambient Flächen wandeln möchten, sollten sich ohne Scheu an Thunderwheel herantrauen, auch wenn gewisse Moment erst im zweiten Hördurchlauf zünden.

Im Falle dieser Veröffentlichung einen expliziten Anspieltipp zu empfehlen, birgt keinen tieferen Sinn, da “Credo” von Thunderwheel entweder Begeisterung oder Ablehnung hervorruft und keinen Platz für die Farbe Grau lässt!

Diese sehr eigenständige bzw. individuelle Arbeit erblickte das Licht der Welt in einer Auflage von 500 Exemplaren über das israelische Label The Eastern Front, welche zu den renommierten Manufakturen im Untergrund gehört.

Fazit: Individuen, die sich vornehmlich mysteriösen Musikwerken im Segment (Dark) Ambient bzw. Inspector Barnaby Filmen hingeben, sollten sich “Credo” von Thunderwheel nicht entgehen lassen – meine Empfehlung!

Hörbeispiele und weitere Informationen zu Thunderwheel findet Ihr unter folgenden Links:
http://www.myspace.com/thunderwheel
http://www.myspace.com/theeasternfrontlabel
http://www.theeasternfront.org

Taken from: http://kulturterrorismus.de/rezensionen/thunderwheel-credo.html

Thunderwheel stammen aus Israel und sind das musikalische Projekt von Vadim Gusis, der durch sein Mitwirken bei Agnivolok und Chaos of Shelter vielleicht bekannt sein dürfte. „Credo“ ist das Debüt Thunderwheels, das auf der Myspace-Seite der Band mit „Surrealistic Industrial Instrumental Romance“ umschrieben wird. Alleine diese Bezeichnung dürfte deutlich machen, dass „Credo“ ein sehr ungewöhnliches und absolut experimentelles Album ist, das einiges an musikalischer Offenheit erfordert. Klänge, die an eine singende Säge erinnern, eine Maultrommel und Keyboardsounds, die der Hochzeit des Krautrock entsprungen scheinen, sind nicht jedermanns Sache und demzufolge für den Hörer auch nicht wirklich leicht zugänglich. Erschwerend kommt hinzu, dass „Credo“, von vereinzelten verfremdeten Stimmen abgesehen, durchweg instrumental gehalten ist und phasenweise an einen musikalischen Chemiekasten erinnert, wo man die unterschiedlichsten Substanzen zusammenmischt und darauf wartet, welche chemische Verbindung sich daraus ergibt. Bei „Credo“ stimmt diese Mischung jedoch zu selten. Spätestens mit dem dritten Stück, dem Titelstück, hat sich nicht nur die Geduld des Zuhörers, sondern auch das kreative Potential erschöpft und man schielt ummer häufiger verstohlen auf die Skip-Taste des CD-Players, um der an den Nerven zerrenden Säge zu entfliehen. Die CD ist limitiert auf fünfhundert Stück und kann über http://www.theeasternfront.org geordert werden. Mir ist „Credo“ definitiv zu „schräg“ und experimentell.
Ohne Wertung – MK

Taken from: www.obliveon.de

Vadim Gusis, già attivo in altri progetti come Chaos As Shelter e Agnivolok, dà vita ad una nuova e misteriosa realtà: Thunderwheel. Coadiuvato da Igor Krutogolov e Slava Smelovsky, l’autore israeliano varca la soglia di ogni umana previsione strutturando otto brani che assumono le sembianze del cubo di Rubik, tanto sono lontane da un facile ascolto o da una semplice classificazione. I mezzi dispiegati sono vari: percussioni, registrazioni dirette, voci rielaborate, non meglio specificati ’strumenti inusuali’, per finire col celebre theremin, il tutto unito dai suoni analogici del vecchio sintetizzatore Siel Cruise, da cui sono estratte le tante melodie sconnesse. I suoni guardano al passato e vengono legati tra loro in modo curioso, in una serie di motivetti naif supportati da arrangiamenti surreali. In due soli casi ("Harmless Song" e "Mindstream") Vadim accantona le linee melodiche per dedicarsi ad una sperimentazione più diretta, fatta di tanti rumori soffusi. Rispetto ai precedenti progetti Thunderwheel si spinge più verso l’estremo, entrando in un universo sonoro che assomiglia ad un enorme collage, su cui campeggiano evidenti solo i suoni delle tastiere anni ‘80, mentre il resto si fonde in immagini indefinibili a tratti scandite da ritmiche. Non si hanno atmosfere, non c’è intrattenimento, è difficile trovare un senso all’opera, se non subendolo in uno stato di allucinante trance. Lavoro complesso diviso tra minimalismi esecutivi e metodi compositivi automatici. Difficile dire se alla fine risulta più meditativo o irritante.
Michele Viali

From: www.darkroom-magazine.it

За названием «Thunderwheel» скрывается хоро�?о известный по проекту «Chaos as Shelter» Вадим Гусис, который, вместе со своими друзьями �?горем Крутоголовым и Славой Смеловским ре�?ил записать материал, разительно отличающийся от его основного музыкального детища и сайд-проектов. Сам по себе «Credo» выдержан в легко узнаваемой стилистике martial/orchestral industrial, которую характеризуют мар�?евые ритмы, псевдо симфонические всплески и минорные мелодии. Правда, эти самые мелодии (весьма оригинальные и не ли�?енные красоты) сыгранны на старом аналоговом синтезаторе, а в общее звучание музыканты добавили звучание таких музыкальных инструментов, как варган («Seeing Through The Wheel»), терменвокс (Смеловский) и пила (Крутоголов). Эксперимент необычный, но весьма удачный – именно пила своим нервным жужжанием добавляет в музыку сумас�?ед�?ий заряд психоделии, при этом (хвала исполнителям) общую картину не нару�?ая и гармонируя со всеми остальными элементами композиций. Среди этих элементов так же можно расслы�?ать �?епчущий мужской вокал, уличный �?ум, религиозные песнопения, различные металлические позвякивания и постукивания. Все эти компоненты, соединенные вместе, выносят альбом за границы стилевых рамок, делая его уникальным и единственным в своем роде – интересно наблюдать, как медленные doom-ритмы («Credo»), характерные приемы darkwave-музыки («Harmless Song») и напоминающий о «Chaos as Shelter» эмбиент («Mindstream») искажаются и размываются, сливаясь во что-то необычное, сюрреалистическое. Один из тех релизов, который вы либо безоговорочно примите и полюбите, либо так и не сможете понять до самого конца, но, в любом случае, обязательно послу�?аете еще несколько раз, чтобы просто окунуться в его странную атмосферу.

Taken from: www.radiodrone.ru

Known due great projects such as Chaos As Shelter, Agnivolok…Vadim Gusis, the spectre behinds THUNDERWHEEL, started a series of musical transformations and psychic experimentations which ended with “Credo”, an interesting fountain with highest spiritual connections focused into Zen Philosophy. The illumination through spectral surrealism,explorated through 6 compositions, which offer us a collection of diverse sounds and mutative atmospheres with a very eclectic nature. “Seeing Through The Wheel” is a rhythmic melodic entrance full of analog synthesizer and harmonies dressed by some whispers, creating a psychedelic track. The use of percussive elements enriches the whole atmosphere of this. Coming next is “ Into The Pure Land”, melancholic tunes and a sutile harmonies converging into a concrete expressive structure with dense passages and surreal evocative soundscapes. “Credo”, percussive elements rising through psychedelic tunes creating a twisted sonic experimentation with interesting moments due how each sound has been arranged here. Through “Emptiness” things seems to change a bit, when we hear how the track opens with more dense harmonies and sutile melancholic sounds, which has a smell to Japanese music in the way as the track is composed, but still with such psychedelic touch which characterize the whole album. Other tracks included here are “Harmless Song”,” Nothing Archived”,” Grief” and “Midstream” all of them with such suggestive elements which transport your mind to a surreal world moving in diverse directions. Through each composition you will discover different facets of your own realities through definited sound patterns with a high dose of creativity. The appearance of Igor Krutologov (Agnivolok) and Slavа Smelovsky (Grundik and Slava) as invited musicians, gives more dynamism to the whole album in general. “Credo” is a release with so many interesting elements worth to explore in all senses. the illumination through spectral surrealism,explorated through 6 compositions, which offer us a collection of diverse sounds and mutative atmospheres with a very eclectic nature. “Seeing Through The Wheel” is a rhythmic melodic entrance full of analog synthesizer and harmonies dressed by some whispers, creating a psychedelic track. The use of percussive elements enriches the whole atmosphere of this. Coming next is “ Into The Pure Land”, melancholic tunes and a sutile harmonies converging into a concrete expressive structure with dense passages and surreal evocative soundscapes. “Credo”, percussive elements rising through psychedelic tunes creating a twisted sonic experimentation with interesting moments due how each sound has been arranged here. Through “Emptiness” things seems to change a bit, when we hear how the track opens with more dense harmonies and sutile melancholic sounds, which has a smell to Japanese music in the way as the track is composed, but still with such psychedelic touch which characterize the whole album. Other tracks included here are “Harmless Song”,” Nothing Archived”,” Grief” and “Midstream” all of them with such suggestive elements which transport your mind to a surreal world moving in diverse directions. Through each composition you will discover different facets of your own realities through definited sound patterns with a high dose of creativity. The appearance of Igor Krutologov (Agnivolok) and Slave Smelousky (Grundik and Slava) as invited musicians, gives more dynamism to the whole album in general. “Credo” is a release with so many interesting elements worth to explore in all senses.

Taken from: www.panoramajournal.blogspot.com

Thunderwheel is a new project of Israeli musician Vadim Gusis, who’s best known as the founder of dark ambient project Chaos As Shelter, and who is also a member of Agnivolok. For Credo, the debut album of Thunderwheel, he’s joined by a couple of guest musicians, namely Igor Krutogolov (a.k.a. Igor18), who’s a fellow member of Agnivolok, as well as being involved with Kruzenstern & Parohod and Igor Krutogolov’s Carate Band, and Slava Smelovsky, a member of Grundik + Slava and Crossfishes.

The first thing to say about this album is that it sounds nothing like Chaos As Shelter. In fact, it hardly sounds like anything else at all. The Eastern Front describe this as �?Surrealistic Industrial Instrumental Romance’, which may or may not give you some idea of what to expect. The instruments employed by Vadim Gusis for this recording include a Siel Cruise analogue synth, percussion, field recordings, �?unusual instruments’ and voice (although the album is largely instrumental), while Igor Krutogolov plays musical saw on six of the album’s eight tracks, and Slava Smelovsky plays theremin on three of them. Now, both the musical saw and the theremin have very distinctive sounds, and since only one track on Credo features neither instrument, you can readily imagine before even hearing it that the album is a veritable festival of weird, wavering, undulating tones. The synth is used to play slow, sinuous melodies, full of campy, phantasmagorical, atmosphere, while the saw and theremin swoop and wobble over the top, accompanied by an assortment of odd little incidental sounds. The second track, �?Into The Pure Land’, uses bold organ tones to eerie effect, �?Emptiness’ has a suspense-laden, creepy-crawly bassline (I’d have guessed this was a bass guitar, though the cover makes no mention of any guitars), and �?Harmless Song’ blends Danny Elfman-style keyboards and chimes with melodramatic whispers. The final track, �?Mindstream’, is the album’s longest at ten and a half minutes, and it’s also the most experimental, being a ramshackle assemblage of disjointed, mournful tones, fragmentary melodic themes and distant metal percussion.

There’s a tinge of decadence, of cabaret and carnivals, fortune-tellers and end-of-the-pier shows about Credo, and the music is also suffused with a distinctively bittersweet eastern European nostalgia and melancholy – unsurprising, really, since all of the musicians involved are former Russians who have settled in Israel. Musical saw acts, of course, have always been a staple of music-hall and variety shows, while it’s impossible to listen to a theremin without it conjuring visions of creaky old horror films from the 1920s and 30s.

In terms of sensibility, Thunderwheel do have something in common with the Russian-Israeli group Zlye Kukly, although their music is very different. The Paris Spleen album by Italian neo-classicists Ataraxia (reviewed elsewhere on Judas Kiss) drew on a similar dark cabaret aesthetic, but, again, with very different musical results. Musically speaking, Thunderwheel are perhaps closest to experimental acts such as Novy Svet, Ô Paradis and Mushroom’s Patience, but their music really defies easy categorisation. I definitely found it intriguingly different and beguiling, though – listening to a track or two on Thunderwheel’s MySpace page should give you an idea whether you agree or not. With Credo, The Eastern Front have once again shown themselves courageous enough to take risks with their release schedule, rather than simply churning out one cookie-cutter dark ambient, neo-folk or martial release after another, and this is commendable.

Credo is a limited-edition release of 500 copies, and it comes packaged in the usual Eastern Front oversized gatefold glossy card sleeve, with black-on-sepia artwork and texts which are a strange mixture of Zen Buddhist iconography and puzzle pictures, in keeping with the arcane nature of this very idiosyncratic recording.
Taken from: www.judaskissmagazine.co.uk

text: daniil kharms
drawings: igor krutogolov
music: grundik and slava

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