AN NCS PREMIERE: MIDNIGHT ODYSSEY — “HUNTER OF THE CELESTIAL SEA”

 

The Australian musician Dis Pater has been involved in a multitude of many-hued projects (I’m still very much looking forward to hearing more from his work in Dissvarth, mentioned here), but perhaps his best-known creations have appeared under the banner of Midnight Odyssey. 2011’s Funerals From the Astral Sphere was a very impressive debut album of atmospheric black metal, and next spring I, Voidhanger Records will bring forth the second Midnight Odyssey full-length, an album named Shards of Silver Fade. As the old year draws to a close, we give you a glimpse of what the new year holds in store as we premiere a song from Shards: “Hunter of the Celestial Sea”.

The notes we received accompanying “Hunter of the Celestial Sea” included these words:

The funeral doom grandeur of Tempestuous Fall and the dark-wave vibe of The Crevices Below — Dis Pater’s past projects — have been successfully injected into Midnight Odyssey’s cosmic black metal body, redoubling the emotional intensity and dark majesty of its melodies. The result is nothing short of an epic masterpiece, a visionary night voyage of approximately 2 hours and 23 minutes connecting our ancient pagan past with the apocalyptic feelings of a cosmic death.

“Each song has taken an immense amount of time and energy, so much that I have been left with little to no desire to even listen to music over the last 12 months or so. It combines elements of all my previous releases, from all my previous projects, a true convergence of styles and musicality. If this were the last Midnight Odyssey release, I would be very proud for it to be so.”

But as much as death chants, these are also songs of rebirth, hymns to a new awareness for Humanity under brighter stellar lights. “It is exactly like finding a place in the universe, being given a spiritual connection with everything around you, making you feel alive and very much part of the existence around you,” Dis Pater explains. “But making you feel somewhat important too, and not just another speck of dust.”

 

 

When you listen to “Hunter of the Celestial Sea”, you’ll see the sense of what Dis Pater is describing. And you’ll see other visions as well: It’s the kind of music that fires the imagination, giving birth to mental imagery that will likely be unique to each listener. It joins together shimmering keyboard ambience; a heavy driving undercurrent like the power of ocean swells; sweeping, soul-stirring melodies; the ferocity of harsh vocal expressions; and the sombre tones of deep, clean vocals as well. It’s the kind of immersive and entrancing listening experience that effectively replaces what surrounds you in the mundane physical world with something mystical and wondrous that Dis Pater has brought to life, in collaboration with every listener.

 

The track list of the new album is as follows:

Shards Of Silver Fade:

Disc 1
1. From A Frozen Wasteland
2. Hunter Of The Celestial Sea
3. Son Of Phoebus
4. A Ghost In Gleaming Stars

Disc 2
1. Asleep Is The Fire
2. Starlight Oblivion
3. Darker Skies Once Radiant
4. Shards Of Silver Fade

 

Below you will find links that will provide more news about the album as its release date approaches. And after the links you’ll find the stream of “Hunter of the Celestial Sea”, followed by the song’s lyrics.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Midnight-Odyssey/201496743216984
https://www.facebook.com/i.voidhanger.records

 

 

HUNTER OF THE CELESTIAL SEA

Forever poised
He rides the darkened skies
An eternal cycle
A chase of endless dawns

Oh how the hunter rides
The celestial waves
He draws his peerless sword
And hunts his prey
But hidden far beyond
A foe in shadows
To hunt the hunted
To lurk and not be seen…

To turn a blind eye
And never see
The claws of doom
Forever coming for you

Oh how the hunter rides
The celestial waves
He draws his peerless sword
And hunts his prey
But hidden far beyond
A foe in shadows
To hunt the hunted
To lurk never to be seen…

And his father is the ocean
He can skim across the seas
His blade is always at the ready
He strikes swift and clean

But the shadow grows stronger
In the eyes of those scorned
His threats unabated
The death of all wild born

And from the earthen depths
A creature is released
Of pincers and poison
A creeping death is unleashed

Blade is sharpened, belt fastened, eyes hardened
Mind is weakened, and blind to the dark

Creature crawling with a burning tail sting
Hunter roaming, not knowing what lurks
Creature rising, tail biting, claws tightening
Hunter falling, with a last painful scream

Blade is sharpened, belt fastened, eyes hardened
Mind is weakened, and blind to the dark

Creature crawling with a burning tail sting
Hunter roaming, not knowing what’s lurking
Creature rising, tail biting, claws tightening
Hunter falling, with a last painful scream