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Band: Midnight Odyssey
Album title: Biolume Part 2 – The Golden Orb
Release date: 19 March 2021
Label: I, Voidhanger Records
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Tracklist:
01. Dawn-Bringer
02. The Saffron Flame
03. Golden Orb
04. Rise Of Thunder
05. Aurora Burning
06. The Unconquered Star
07. Below Horizon
08. The Chains Become Mine (Helios Invictus)
09. When The Fires Cool
I have no idea how to start this review, not to sound as I am stating the obvious, but - the length! Oh my, the length! Biolume Part 2 – The Golden Orb, the second record in the trilogy, with the last album yet to come, spans over 100 minutes of total time. It is a lot, it is dense and intense, yet not tiring. Midnight Odyssey, an Australian project ran by a sole member who goes by the name Dis Pater is known for its lengthy escapades, which might seem a bit frightening even, but I tell you – to achieve this kind of equilibrium between black metal harshness, dark ambient nightmarish feel, ethereal vibes and grandeur sensations, is a combination of pure genius mind combined with hard work and enormous effort, with paying a lot of attention to details.
This is not a typical album you listen to a couple of times, then go back to the tracks, which stand out. It is an epopee you listen from the beginning to the end and let yourself be entranced by its transfixing atmosphere and profound storytelling. While Biolume Part 2 – The Golden Orb is conceptually 2019s Biolume Part 1 – In Tartarean Chains follower, you can easily listen to The Golden Orb, without any previous knowledge of the past works. However, since this is a trilogy to be, I would highly recommend you to start from the beginning (if you had not yet), because this is an evolving tale of obscurity and light.
While the story of The Tartarean Chains revolved around finding light when dwelling in the depths of darkness, The Golden Orb is all about illumination; how to embrace the light, the Sun is many shapes and forms and find catharsis with its guidance. The opening ''Dawn Bringer'' exceeds 20 minutes in length, but it is a fairly representative track of the album. It opens up with a beautiful, yet subtle and dreamy synth melody and then slowly builds its dynamics, creating a very glacial feel once Dis Pater's cold vocals hit it, into an epic atmospheric black metal track, which is later on infused by various stylistic approaches. There is even this little very old-school guitar momentum in-between, which flows in the vein of the great Bathory and it takes the ambient of the song into a whole new, more raw and energetic direction. Yet, this is not a black metal record for those who wish tremolo-based, fast-paced, shrieking black metal; but a very contemplative and well-thought-out release. There are moments of folk music nicely intertwined into the sound, especially vivid at the beginning of ''The Saffron Flame'', ''Aurora Burning'' and ''Below Horizon''; again there are moments when the sound goes into the depths of doom metal, indulges in dungeon synth ambiences, and dwells in pure black metal madness.
What makes Midnight Odyssey's sixth full-length album so incredibly flabbergasting is the sheer flow of the sounds; how all the elements and different stylistic approaches are incorporated into the sound and aligned into one massive synthesis of soundscapes. There is a solid ground of atmospheric black metal, flowing into pure dungeon synth moments now and then, as well as black and epic doom metal, with long and unworldly built-up ambient sounds. The echo guitar distortions are smoothed by the precise use of synths and everything is build-up in film-score music like proportions, done with great exactness and carefully paced passages. Vocal work is of great importance as well, as, with a subtle addition of choirs in the background, it heightens the atmosphere and makes it uniquely mystic and obscure.
Biolume Part 2 - The Golden Orb is epic and dreamy in every single aspect of it; it's a play of forces, struggles and catharsis. However, the length is sometimes the strength, sometimes the weakness; because you need to be in the right mood to let yourself to the ethereal, yet earthly tunes of it. And I believe some listeners might find the running time quite challenging and maybe even a bit uneasy at times, being the only downside of the album though. All in all, this album is a sonic presentation of light chasing the darkness because there are so many opposing forces within sounds, which collide and symbiotically exist with one another and should find their base of listeners especially among fans of black metal and dark ambient, who cherish the profound atmosphere in their music.
The review was written by Ines
Rating: 8/10
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