At the very end of last year we had the pleasure of premiering “Hunter of the Celestial Sea”, an advance song from the new album by Australia’s Midnight Odyssey, Shards of Silver Fade, and today we’re equally delighted to bring you another. What you’re about to hear is “Starlight Oblivion“. It will require more than the usual amount of your time for a single song, but the time you invest will be repaid with handsome dividends. And I can pretty much guarantee that you won’t emerge from the experience in the same frame of mind and mood as when you begin the journey.
The song is more than 18 minutes long, one of eight in a double-album release that includes more than 2 hours and 20 minutes of music. It fully merits the adjective “immersive”. It’s a sweeping celestial voyage of shimmering ambient sounds, galvanizing rhythms, melodies that tug at the heart, and an array of vocal expressions that are all mesmerizing.
The emotional tone of the piece is by turns sombre and uplifting, a monument to both the majesty of melancholy and the glories of hope and triumph. It has the nature of an astral voyage far out beyond the confines of gravity, alternately flowing in a slow cosmic drift and bursting into life as galloping drum and bass rhythms hit their stride.
Apart from the entrancing sweep of the melodies, the song’s great strength lies in sole member Dis Pater’s voice. His clean vocals span an impressive range, from pure, clean, impassioned song that arcs skyward to deeper, moodier intonations, and at carefully chosen moments he breaks into a scarring black metal rasp that’s just as emotionally affecting.
What Dis Pater has said about the album as a whole is a fitting commentary about this song as well:
“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. But making you feel somewhat important too, and not just another speck of dust.”
Shards of Silver Fade is scheduled for release by the remarkable I, Voidhanger label on June 8, 2015. The track list is as follows:
Disc 1
1. From A Frozen Wasteland 21:54
2. Hunter Of The Celestial Sea 14:20
3. Son Of Phoebus 18:03
4. A Ghost In Gleaming Stars 13:59
Disc 2
5. Asleep Is The Fire 20:26
6. Starlight Oblivion 18:06
7. Darker Skies Once Radiant 15:21
8. Shards Of Silver Fade 20:29
Total running time 142:40
And now here is “Starlight Oblivion”. Close your eyes, open your ears and your mind, and prepare to be carried away.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Midnight-Odyssey/201496743216984
http://www.i-voidhanger.com
https://www.facebook.com/i.voidhanger.records
6 Responses to “AN NCS PREMIERE: MIDNIGHT ODYSSEY — “STARLIGHT OBLIVION””
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awesome track, and combined with that cool artwork it really creates an awesome atmosphere 🙂
This is going to be quite a journey of an album, but I’m definitely psyched for it nonetheless.
I can’t remember ever listening to an album of such length in a single sitting (or even multiple sittings), but I’m going to do it with this one. I’m very curious to figure out how Dis Pater pulls this off (though based on these two songs that have emerged so far, I wouldn’t bet against him).
Set the controls for the heart of the sun. Atmotspheric Black Music is great, ..and MO are indeed one of its pilots.
No question about that. And now I’m feeling an overpowering urge to listen to a certain Pink Floyd album.
Nice, but I too wonder about 2 hours plus. I feel like it may end up something to throw on in the background while working.