The Odyssey

Mare Frigoris is one of those few bands you come across on Myspace which really surprises you. I had heard only one track (which is actually now one of my least favourites) and instantly ordered the first release on tape. When it was “announced” that a second album was underway I was itching to get my hands on it. Mare Frigoris is a one man project that began not straying too far from the basics of the genre of black metal. The drumming isn’t outstanding, the guitar work has flaws, the production isn’t top-notch and the vocals are hit and miss. But it is this amateurish work that really creates a unique atmosphere and it is this release where the band really begins to grow its own personality. As a preparing warning: anyone who listens to only music with top quality in musicianship and production might as well leave now. Okay good, those who are left will find themselves with a real atmospheric treat here.

The guitar tones, pianos and melodies really reflect the cover of the album. The clean tones are sharp and cold and the melodies have that sense of wonder. Stepping out into the brisk winter air, the cold wind hits your face with piercing icicles smaller than your eye can see. At the roof corners of the home in which you emerge from are bundles of snow that have drifted down the sloped roof and found themselves at the edge of falling to the wintry ground below. The wind blowing the glittering frozen particles from those snow bundles through the air past your face. Winter. The sense of snow purity. Undisturbed by mankind. Left in its born. Each song leaves an image of being in the middle of a winter land. The trees and frosty mountaintops. This image dominates the entire album from start to end. Even the intro to “Land of Frost” has a sharp sense to it that gives the idea of a blacksmith working on his wares in an afternoon during the dead of winter. It truly is the odyssey.

This album is quite a change from the first release, it slowly lets go of its black metal influences and embraces more of the “folk” metal sound with black metal moments. The songs are not long for the sake of being long but instead mix many folk melodies and instruments tied together with the fast paced black metal “verses” that create more of a journey through each song. This leaves with great instrumental interludes but leaves very little for vocal and lyrical advancement, even if the music is more instruments based rather than vocals. In fact the melodies are so strong that each track could in fact be an instrumental. It really is that enjoyable. Rather so, I have never sat down with this album without listening to it twice.

One aspect that makes this album so enjoyable is that Arcane is not afraid to experiment with any tricks and styles. Pinch harmonics, melodies that may be out of his playing range, thrashy black metal, melodic folk metal and any other style. It is so diverse that through one listen there is no way to get bored.

It is an album where the amateur playing is not out of place and actually gives the release the majority of its character. It is a release that really gives the idea that if it was mastered and produced in an environment that would give it “professional” status it could be labelled as a weak release or sub-par because it doesn’t have that personality to it that could only be achieved with poor production.

Lyrically, I could do without. Some of the rhyme schemes and basic tools left me giggling and the lyrics don’t really show and skills in writing or a lot of time put into it. If the musical effort matched the lyrical effort I could say that it would be a very plain and boring release. They basically tell of battle and war, voyage and journey, folklore and legend.

The Dungeons Deep Records release came with 4 bonus tracks (I own both the Inner Voice Records tape release and the CD release, it is the CD release which I am listening to and basing the review on), it is essentially a demo that was never released. The atmosphere and general feel are the same between this demo and the actual full-length. The production is a little less in quality and the actual black metal parts are a little more muddy then “The Odyssey”. The intro is more in the vein of “The Odyssey”, clean tone guitar with the same general sound and feel. Soothing wind blows in the background with a general sense of wonder and the question: what is to come next? What is to come is more or less straight up black metal. Towards what the previous release, “Hail Victory”, is like. When “The Odyssey” is expanding the entire sound of the band through melody and clean tones, the demo takes on the same structure as “Hail Victory” where the music is more black metal based with clean tone interludes that breath fresh air through the dark thrash parts. It is very hard to tell apart the riffs and notes because of how muddy the production is. It is a nice addition to the album but nothing to rant and rave about.

“The Odyssey” is definitely for anyone who likes to have entire “album experiences” rather than just a collection of songs – and it is a unique experience like no other. This is will set the mood on those cold dark winter nights, no matter if you live in the frozen mountains of Norway or, well, Illinois,USA. Just don’t push play expecting Kirk Hammett or Alexi Laiho.

Stand out tracks: Aurora Borealis, Seagrave (Instrumental), In Thy Village and Land of the Black Sun Pt. I. But in reality, the entire release is great and it cannot be judged by a single track or even a handful of them but the entire release itself.