Music Review // Andrew Ruoti "Odyssey"

https://open.spotify.com/album/3XZccBcD25BWr5Ujx9IKGQ?si=TDKwUi8VSkOhwGNiyALIMQ&nd=1

The sound of Andrew Ruoti has two distinct sides to it, the first being instrumental and more ambient and the second being more pop-like and with vocals.  These two sounds take turns on the "Odyssey" EP as the first song- "State of the World"- begins with these dramatic strings and they grow into almost a sound of horror.  It is building, yet it is also ambient.  This should be noted in the third and fifth songs as well, as the second song takes on a different style.

"Special Day" is a song that is about just that- and the lyrics reflect as such as well- and it just becomes more upbeat like pop / acoustic rock.  There is also a little bit of rapping inside of this song and it makes me think of P.O.D.   "Trials and Tribulations" has this swirly bliss with vocals in the background, but again it's more like the first song than the second and when you listen to this EP you'll notice that change up.

"Deconstruct" begins with dark acoustics but then it kicks in a little bit heavier than "Special Day".   It has a nice rhythm and reminds me of those No Motiv type melodies.  Somehow, this song also just feels a bit spiritual and on that level so does the entire EP.  The fourth song flows right into the fifth and the lyrics "come into my world" from "Deconstruct" also carry over into "Odivisha", which feels like more of a mantra.

Perhaps my favorite part of this EP is that the style changes from song to song and even though it has that pattern of being instrumental and then not, the two songs on here which do have lyrics aren't exactly the same and three which do not aren't either.   So you have this same sort of idea throughout the EP but executed in different ways and it just shows this overall vast and unique sound of Andrew Ruoti and that just makes it that much easier to listen to as well.