AN NCS DOUBLE PREMIERE: LES CHANTS DU HASARD AND MIDNIGHT ODYSSEY

 Metal News, Premieres  No Responses »
Oct 082019
 

 

Meaning no disrespect to all the other labels whose music we’ve become attached to over the years, it must nevertheless be said that the releases of I, Voidhanger Records are like no others. They are incredibly distinctive, often strangely so, and unpredictable in a way that makes each new announcement exciting. Part of this is the result of the richly idiosyncratic yet incisively perceptive tastes of the label’s owner, and part of it is undoubtedly the gravitation in his direction of musical creators who definitely march to the beats of their own drummers and whose creations often expand the mind in unexpected directions.

We are fortunate to present today two premieres that abundantly illustrate the truth of these observations. One comes from the new album by the French band Les Chants du Hasard, and the other from the new album by the Australian band Midnight Odyssey. Both of these are one-man projects whose releases continue to move from one precipice to the next, way up in rarefied air. Both will be released by I, Voidhanger on November 1st.

LES CHANTS DU HASARD: “CHANT VI – LA COURSE”

I became utterly enthralled by Livre Second before ever hearing a note. Simply reading the lyrical narratives of the nine Chants included in the album, each of which is something like a mythic short story or a “fairy tale”, captured me. The stories are mysterious, frightening, haunting, metaphorical, eloquent, and a bit like ghost hands that grasp and won’t let go. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 1): MIDNIGHT ODYSSEY, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS, VUKARI, LVXCAELIS, RAAT, FLAGELLANT, ORCIVUS

 SHADES OF BLACK  1 Response »
Sep 222019
 

 

You’re probably asking yourself, since I can’t hear you, “Why will there be a second Part to this when there’s already seven bands in Part 1?!?” A good question, and a better one than you know, since there are also seven bands in Part 2.

I do have a reason for channeling such a flood of music from the black realms in this SOB installment, but I’ll save the explanation for Part 2. Sadly, I also realize the risk that this is just too much for most normal people to focus on. But I’m fortified by the suspicion that you’re not normal. I’m also deferring Part 2 to Monday morning, for extra fortification.

P.S. There’s some great cover artwork coming your way in this collection, in addition to the fine music.

P.P.S. Yes, I do know about the surprise release of Blut Aus Nord‘s new album. I had been waiting to post my review until everyone else got the promo. Now everyone can hear it, but I’ll share my own thoughts anyway — probably tomorrow. Continue reading »

MIDNIGHT ODYSSEY: “SILHOUETTE OF STARS”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Mar 302017
 

 

(We welcome back guest writer Lonegoat, the Texas-based necroclassical pianist behind Goatcraft, whose latest album Yersinia Pestis was released in 2016 by I, Voidhanger. In this piece, Lonegoat provides a review of the new double-album by the one-man Australian project Midnight Odyssey.)

Atmospheric metal is made difficult as much of it is mere texture. Most of it is deduced to a worship of texture and a hard limit of production. The long chain of simple but meaningful sounds has led listeners to acknowledge its harmonious preservation from one sound to another and the coalescence thereof.

Midnight Odyssey shows that these are necessary textures, how the mind comes to be furnished by a lush experience and leads to a heroic catalyst of reflection. It derives our internal operations of mind by all of its vibrant tones, simplicity, and often an exuberant usage of repetition, most often to the point of repletion.

Atmosphere in music is not an empirical concept which has been derived by ordinary external experience; it is a prime character in and of itself. Midnight Odyssey exemplifies an inner character much like the dusty plains of eastern classical where its focus is that of an internal expression, whereas western art is an external representation and unites its representations in our consciousnesses (albeit consciousness itself is an epiphenomenon). Tonal action and reaction should be equal in atmospheric synthesis. Continue reading »

ESSENTIAL ENTRIES: JUNE 2015

 Listmania, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  13 Responses »
Jul 202015
 

Abyssal-Antikatastaseis

 

(In this post Dan Barkasi continues his monthly series recommending music from the previous month.)

June is long gone, but alas, there’s music that needs some light shed upon it!

Apologies for the delay on this one. Life finds a way – to get in the way of my getting this done faster. Thanks, Dr. Malcolm, for the line!

How good was June? It was loaded like a politician’s rhetoric, but not vomit-inducing. In other words, lots of audible goodies! A lot of styles represented, too, possibly being the month with the most diversity thus far.

Let it begin!

Abyssal – Antikatastaseis

Chaotic as they are potent, Abyssal’s third album displays a band who continue to hone their craft to devastating effect. This sublime combination of black, death, and doom metal is so crushing that it gives a dinosaur a run for its money. There’s also a little bit more melody than the previous two discs, which is used to great effect. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MIDNIGHT ODYSSEY — “STARLIGHT OBLIVION”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  6 Responses »
May 062015
 

 

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. Continue reading »

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

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Dec 302014
 

 

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.” Continue reading »