Sear Bliss - The Arcane Odyssey - guest review
Sear Bliss - The Arcane Odyssey - guest review
Tracklist
01. Blood On The Milky Way02. 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
Guest review by
White Winter Sun December 10, 2008
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"
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by White Winter Sun | December 10, 2008
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
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Posts: 64475
I agree whit Vincent Paget about this, I like how he put out highlight songs here ... band somehow lost BM direction, but then I will ask is it good or bad? that lost direction is not as Paradise Lost disco era shit but belongs deeply into metal family
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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