So, we get part two of Dis Pater’s epic trilogy, this time weighing in at around one hundred minutes of music. And yes I have listened to this over and over, more than usual in fact. Such is life during wartime.

Oddly this time around we were promised inspiration from the world of epic metal, name checking Bathory, Scald (welcome back!) and Solstice indeed. But this is Midnight Odyssey so don’t be expecting great metal riffs and thunderous drumming; we are talking reaching into the feel of such music and trying to breath this through the filter of Midnight Odyssey’s all enshrouding keyboard orchestration and soft but still heard riffs and the soaring vocals.

Ah it is indeed difficult to know where to begin or end with this, so instead of taking you through the nine passages one by one I shall attempt to illuminate the feel here.

If you are familiar with Midnight Odyssey then there will be little here alien to you. There is perhaps the emergence of more metal riffs, particular on the twenty-minute opener ‘Dawn-Bringer’ but the choral sounds, the horns, the thick velvet swathes of keys and the majestic atmosphere is here as rich as ever.

This is as cinematic as ever, less cosmic though. Instead, we appear to be treading a world of classical mythology as far as I can fathom without lyrics. Light and sun is in the ascendance, and we are forced to face its godlike power until, I think, perhaps we are either purified or transcend. Certainly, the confrontation is epic, mythic and it feels as though we are in the presence of gods. Punishment suffered, scorched simply by their aura rather than firestorm battles, but cleansed too.

Musically this also, oddly, keeps nudging me towards later Bal-Sagoth in their more keyboard driven moments, and even more curiously the vocals often call to mind Dead Can Dance. Add in a little whisper of VNV Nation in their most introspective oceans and we are almost there for the previously uninitiated.

But all that being said this is still unmistakably Midnight Odyssey. It has that utterly majestic and intelligent charisma. It envelops and leads, hierophant to our novitiate, as the blazing light seeks to blind us. It has moments of uplifting, epic confrontation and slow darker moments of doubt and confusion. The music flowed, as it always does; there are no choppy waters here, just relentless currents and restless waves. Sometimes the voices here are harsh, half growled, other times calling out the wisdom we need to progress.

Yes it is long, but what epic journey is not?

It is a dizzying size, but also effortlessly inviting. I dare say as well a good album to try if Dis Pater’s works are new to you. Which is quite surprising for such and opus, and rare.

Follow the hierophant. The journey awaits, the rewards enriching.

(8.5/10 Gizmo)

https://www.facebook.com/midnightodyssey

https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/biolume-part-2-the-golden-orb