Band:	Sear Bliss
Album:	The Arcane Odyssey
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	September 24, 2007
Guest review by:	White Winter Sun

01. Blood On The Milky Way
02. A Deathly Illusion
03. Lost And Not Found
04. Thorns Of Deception
05. The Venomous Grace
06. Omen Of Doom
07. Somewhere
08. Path To The Motherland

Sear Bliss is a black metal band from Szombathely, Hungary, formed in 1993. "The Arcane Odyssey" is the sixth release from the band (and first for Candlelight Records). The album was recorded at MD studio (Sopron, Hungary) in April 2007 and was produced and engineered by Viktor Scheer. The amazing cover artwork is a painting done by Jozsef Tari (who is better known for doing cover art for Venom) and depicts a Hungarian legend, the "Road Of The Warriors".

Epic and unique universe are the key words of the Sear Bliss' style. Indeed, the band uses trombones and trumpets to make its black metal unique, atypical and searched. Other important signature of the Sear Bliss' music: a black metal tinged with a progressive structure, making the listening of the whole album more pleasant and attractive. Compared to their previous releases, "The Arcane Odyssey" is one of the best Sear Bliss records ever released. It is their more mature album, focused on emotions, on the triumphant side and especially based on the variety of the playing. To resume it, "The Arcane Odyssey" is a combination of slower riffs, acoustic and atmospheric parts, mixed to killer solos, double bass drumming and bombastic brass notes: in brief, a solid album containing a progressive and extreme duality.

The album kicks off with an awesome track, entitled "Blood On The Milky Way", which is the perfect opener with its combination of soft and stronger parts. At the same time, without losing its black metal directions, the band uses a large musical palette, which range from violent and dark to triumphant and slowly parts. Variety occurs on vocals too, which go from growls, spoken, sung/whispered to plaintive like on "Somewhere" or "Omen Of Doom", where András' singing transcribes and delivers emotions along the minutes.
"The Arcane Odyssey" contains also some groovy moments but the album keeps its extreme side full of aggressiveness. Indeed, "Thorns of Deception" is the shortest but one of the fastest song of the album with its steadily rumbling double bass drumming. Keyboards also reinforce emotions on each song while great solos are scattered all over the album. I cannot conclude without highlighting the use of violin on the last song, entitled "Path To Motherland", which brings some really interesting elements and colours of traditional Hungarian music.

If you like atypical and searched Black metal, you should really appreciate "The Arcane Odyssey" with its unique atmosphere. The production is excellent and all the instruments are audible. Even though "The Arcane Odyssey" is complex and combines different genres, many of you can find some good elements and enjoyable moments. The album might disappoint die-hard true Black metal fans, but on the other hand, the Sear Bliss' music leads to a more accessible album and possibly to a wider audience, such as progressive fans who like extreme vocals.

Highlights: "Blood On The Milky Way", "A Deathly Illusion", "Somewhere", "Path To The Motherland"