Midnight Odyssey - Biolume Part 1 - In Tartarean Chains (2019)

One man Australian battalion Midnight Odyssey is finally unleashing their newest full-length release “Biolume Part 1 - In Tartarean Chains”, that is by far one of the most captivating Ambient Black Metal releases of 2019. Taking the listener into a sidereal journey with his mastery of atmosphere and pace, Dis Pater delivers over 70 minutes of lush and hypnotic music.

The album kicks off with the spacey and dreamy atmospherics of “Hidden in Tartarus”. This track crafts a very unique ambiance thanks to doomy riffs and very ethereal clean vocal arrangements. Sending chills through your spine, this atmosphere is continued on the heavier “Forever Silenced”, a track with more Doom-ish undertones and contrasting harsh vocals. This song reminded us a bit of the earlier days of Therion, just when they started getting into the Symphonic days of their career.

Mixing elements from Darkspace and Summoning, “Biolume” is definitely one of the best and dreamiest tracks in this release. Feeling like you are on a journey through space and time, the vocal arrangements and subtle guitar leads make this track quite magical. For those looking for faster pieces, “A Storm Before A Fiery Dawn” and “Of Golden Age Descended” have faster paced drums, hellish vocals, and a certain sense of urgency, mixed in between dreamy atmospheric passages.

Old-school simple ambient elements like the opening of “When Titans Fall” are what makes this release quite special and different, many people these days are overdoing orchestrations and fancy arrangements when simple and at timed gaudy synths are all you need to create solid atmospheres. Closing with the dramatic “Pillars in the Sky”, we are left quite astonished as to how awesome and well crafted this release is. If you are a fan of Ambient/Atmospheric Black Metal with Doom elements and dreamy clean vocals, you cannot go wrong with this album.

Label: I, Voidhanger Records

Release: November 1st, 2019

Genre: Ambient/Atmospheric Black Metal

Country: Australia