The Sad Realm of the Stars

1998 was a golden moment for the symphonic black metal sub-genre: for sure, this was the consequence of the best-selling success of "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant" by Dimmu Borgir, just one single year before, and the cult status reached by Emperor, after releasing their first two full-length legendary albums. Also Limbonic Art, a Norwegian band that was able to push the boundaries of the symphonic black metal style even further, with complex, strongly keyboards and drum-machine driven compositions, and an explicitly cosmic, sidereal imagery, trying with success to merge an epic and fantasy-like mood with a fascination for the depths of the universe and the secrets of outer space. There was a number of writers and listeners that coined the term cosmic black metal, at the time, but I tend to refuse an overly fractioned set of labels, as they increase entropic proliferation of definitions instead of categorizing and reducing the disorder.

As the cover artwork, made by Limbonic Art's Morfeus, might suggest, we are dealing with a symphonic black metal hugely inspired by the authors of the "In Abhorrence Dementia" masterpiece the year before, and, knowing that this release was published, in the first instance, by Samoth's own label, Nocturnal Arts Production, even a strong Emperor vibe might be expected: yes, everything here is kind of a mixture between Limbonic Art and Emperor, although in a minor scale. Songs are all valid and flawless, and production is cold but not thin or weak: tremolo-picked guitars' melodies, keyboards' layers in the front of the mix, very well performed screaming vocals, and a real acoustic drum kit played by a real drummer, which is the major difference in comparison with Limbonic Art's proposal.

I'm not here to discuss Limbonic Art's early masterpieces, for they truly are a landmark for symphonic black metal and all the sophisticated black metal art to come, but here, with Odium, we have a more compact and concise approach to the song's structure and the overall duration of the single record. It is not a given thing that a long, majestic, overstructured album is able, at the same time, to keep the lister's attention always high in focus, while a maximum 40 minutes running time quite often ensures an adequate listening experience, without the risk of boredom or saturation. Odium, as a band, is turning back to the scenes nowadays, with celebrative live shows in order to place under a new light this one and only album of their career. Clearly, not a monument in the symphonic black metal field, but a well-crafted effort that needs to be rediscovered after all these years since it was released.

Odium is a name that hasn't been talked about much in the symphonic black metal scene. Formed in 1994, the Norwegian band didn't release much besides a demo, a single, and their only studio album "The Sad Realm of the Stars". The 1998 album received little recognition when it was first released since it was seen as more of a Limbonic Art knockoff. However, when you give the album a listen, you'll see that it's more than just a cheap ripoff of Limbonic Art. Not only does it expand upon the Limbonic Art sound, but it also stands out in its own ways.

Let's start off with the instruments. As I've stated before, the instrumentals take large inspiration from Limbonic Art, but it does have its own merits. The guitars sound more raw, but still maintain a clean production to fit the symphonic themes. Speaking of which, the symphonic elements are easily one of the strongest elements on this album. The keyboards sound beautiful with its melodic tunes, and gives the overall atmosphere a grand theatrical tone. One instrument I find a bit weak though is the drums. It's decent it terms of the blastbeats it plays, but the production softens the loud banging a bit, so it feels weak. Some of my favorite instrumentals come from the tracks "Towards the Forest Horizon", "Thy Eternal Nightfall", and "The Sad Realm of the Stars", since those tracks execute the symphonic themes the strongest and have some powerful riffs. While the drumming can feel weak, every other instrument does not fail in bringing in an epic and dramatic atmosphere.

Another great thing about the album is the vocals. Sechtdaemon does the vocals here, and he stands out in his own ways. Sechtdaemon's high shrieks sound very angry, and the occasional demonic screams only further enhances the evil personality in him. One of the stronger vocal moments is from the track "Through the Sorrowfilled Forest". The album goes for a more abrasive and chaotic tone, so the guitar riffs have more darker sounds and the symphonic synths have a more grim tone in them. This fits perfectly well with the vocals, as the shrieks flow well to the cold instruments and further execute the grand atmosphere. Sechtdaemon's vocals are excellent in flow and delivery, and his vocal skills are right up there with Ihsahn of Emperor.

Overall, this is an album that will surprise a lot of people, especially since it's a lot more than just Limbonic Art worship. The symphonic elements strengthen the cold and dark atmosphere, and the vocals have a strong delivery and execution. Odium would go on a hiatus shortly after the release of the "Altering the State of Being" single, and they only just recently reignited the band. It's unknown of the band is gonna make new music, but as of now, "The Sad Realm of the Stars" is an album I highly recommend for those seeking an unique take on the Limbonic Art sound.

The Sad Realm of the Stars is Odium's lone album. This symphonic black metal band was all about delivering chilling, spacey music that enthralls the listener with its rhythms and synths. This is a band that sprung up right in the middle of the big wave of late 90s symphonic black metal bands such as Emperor, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, and Bal-Sagoth, hell even Ancient were trying this style at the time. Sadly, Odium got left behind and only released this album, which is a damn shame since there's some really badass stuff on here that in many ways is a match for the titans of the genre such as Emperor.

The sound of The Sad Realm of the Stars is clear and ethereal. Magnificent, icy synths parade along solemn guitar passages in songs like Winterpath and Towards the Forest Horizon which both feature very grand intros announcing their presence in a grandiose way. Clean acoustic guitar hymns add a spacey, psychedelic property to the music and serve to further enhance the atmosphere of gloom and isolation. The only problem I could really find was that the guitars were really too static-y and sounded too much like standard black metal, which is upsetting since the riffs I can discern are damn good, and with better production or tuning, they could have been ten times as intense as they are, landmark level riffs possibly. Still, the guitars offer plenty when they do and it's always a thrill to see how they meld with the absolutely brilliant synth work. Every song has a distinct melody while sounding consistent and uniform. Riding the Starwinds is the best song for atmospheric acoustics, rapid-fire guitars and synths that capture the cold, imposing essence of space. Every song on this album is breathtaking. The ethereal feeling of The Sad Realm of the Stars never lets up, even in its most intense moments.

If some things had gone differently, this band could've hit it big alongside Emperor. The atmosphere and majestic riff-craft that both bands share is exemplary, but Emperor had two things Odium didn't, prior status, and better production/tuning. Had Odium gone for a more crushing guitar tone, this album would've gone down as a true landmark of symphonic black metal. Every moment is magical on this album and we are given the very best songs this band can write along with a sound that captures intensity and solemn isolation at the same time. I would've loved to hear every song on this album done with a more muscular timbre, because the writing is more than up to snuff, it's fantastic, on par with In The Nightside Eclipse, albeit with a more sorrowful melody and a tinnier guitar sound. Such a shame, because I would've given a perfect score had a clearer and stronger version of this had come out.

Still, this is a thrill ride well worth your time if you love symphonic black metal. Every song is unique yet consistent, the keyboards and acoustics are truly chilling and spacey, drawing the listener's eyes to the sky in wonder. The guitars pilot us along our journey through The Sad Realm of the Stars with excellently crafted melodies. Riding The Starwinds in particular is nothing you want to miss out on. Odium have given us a rough gem, but one that holds untold mystic power.

This was recommended to me some time ago as being comparable to many of Limbonic Art's masterworks. While this is in no way similar to the Norwegian duo's later, more abrasive records, it definitely would fit snug in between Moon in the Scorpio and In Abhorrence Dementia.

What startled me most on first blush was the involvement of Sechtdaemon of Zyklon and Myrkskog fame on vocals. I honestly didn't expect that, and he delivers the overacted warbling associated with second-wave Norwegian black metal quite potently. For coherency's sake, comparing this to Moon in the Scorpio yields quite a few glaring disparities that need to be immediately addressed. While there are technically just as many keyboards here, they aren't delivered with anything even approaching the grace and splendor of Morfeus. Bastadon's synth lines sound so stereotypically foreboding and somber that it ends up being little more than window dressing. He summons a decent gloomy atmosphere during "Thy Eternal Kingdom" and "Riding the Starwinds", both of which deliver the goods on all misanthropic fronts. On other tracks like "Towards the Forest Horizon" he simply comes off as lost and unsure of himself. It is quite obvious he didn't have very deft fingers on the ivories, and perhaps he was thrust into the position of keyboardist due to a dearth of skill with any other instrument.

The guitars is where The Sad Realm of the Stars blows early Limbonic Art out of the water. The riffs have the typical underproduced, trebly tone that is normally associated with the genre, but it isn't unreasonably difficult to dissect individual riffs out of these tracks' garish underbellies. The reverb-heavy acoustic tones that open "Riding the Starwinds" are a nice change of pace, and the song opens the reprobate gates relatively quickly as the guitars come in quickly and leave you nearly disoriented within their abrasive tempest. The drums consist of mid-tempo blast beats and faster thrash patterns most of the time, sometimes getting a little too fill-happy and losing the percussive plot on a few occasions. The drummer lacks speed on the whole, but it isn't necessarily a huge detraction since The Sad Realm of the Stars seems content to rumble along at a pretty measured tempo more often than not.

What really gives this lasting power is the fact that the songs don't drag on for too long and are relatively succinct and to the point. Moon in the Scorpio had the proclivity to go on and on, never knowing when to truly stop. Odium at least knows when to cut and run, as they swiftly did a couple of years after this album's release. The music is most definitely anything but traditionally catchy, with the band constantly flirting around in a minor key and playing it relatively safe by black metal standards. The murky atmosphere is nice, but a nice ethereal counterpoint on the keys would have served Odium well here, possibly taking this to the next compositional level.

This definitely isn't the unknown classic it is often lauded as, but The Sad Realm of the Stars has plenty of recondite appeal that will please fans of symphonic black metal and those tired or unwary of Dimmu Borgir's more sonically polished stabs at the subgenre. Get the vinyl if you can find it, which features Morfeus' amazing (as usual) digital artwork on full display.

Obscurity is a sad and depressing thing, particularly when underneath the veil of virtual anonymity lay a bountiful treasure of talent and intrigue. Such is the story of the aptly titled lone offering of Norway’s forgotten speculators of the woeful cosmos Odium. Drawn from the newly establish tradition of communicating the seething rage of the most extreme depths of metallic art with a melancholy keyboard backdrop, first pioneered by Emperor and Burzum, and later refined with a somewhat more measured combination/middle-ground of the complexity of the former and the droning simplicity of the latter by Limbonic Art, their full length debut and lone effort “The Sad Realm Of The Stars” is a lasting, though largely unknown testament to the early days of Norway’s symphonic black metal explorations.

The characteristic approach implied during this era is in stark opposition to the higher fidelity production practices that came in with Dimmu Borgir’s “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant” at around the same time as this album, which sort of muddied the borders between black metal and melodic death metal, and instead keeps things very raw and chaotic. Right from the frost coated blizzard that is “Winterpath”, a dual formula of frenzied, blurring riff madness trading blows with an epic feel steeped in ambient string sounds emerges and lingers throughout the whole listen, occasionally making way for a broken up stream of clean guitar notes here and there. The resulting sound could be qualified as either neo-romantic or somewhat expressionistic (barring the atonal tendencies of the latter movement), and yet also manages to be fairly catchy as well.

For those not really weened off the shallower dogmas of mainstream music, the idea of catchiness residing in an extreme for of metal might sound like a contradiction, but it is heavily present here, as well as in the influences that it draws from. Scorching frost bites of blazing fury such as “Towards The Forest Horizon” and “The Brightness Of The Weeping Kingdom” actually ache with consonant keyboard themes and familiar chord progressions. Sechtdaemon’s highly garbled vocal lines, which pretty closely resemble the goblin ravings of Ihsahn, and the blast beats that come and go like cracks of thunder during the climax of a storm do much to obscure this tendency towards accessibility. But a well-trained ear will quickly recognize that in spite of the nebulous tendencies of the mixing, the dimensional separation between sounds is actually a bit closer to current practices than the distant sounding shimmer of “In The Nightside Eclipse”, though still a far cry from the over-produced material dominating the current symphonic scene.

It might seem as a redundancy to refer to this album as a dark horse given the genre that it falls under, but that’s sort of the only way to really sum up this album, and the entire project that birthed it. Though at present it seems like a resurrection of this outfit isn’t in the cards, the current black metal scene would be the better for it, as something truly amazing has been lost since both Emperor and the older guard that came in with them abandoned the character of their earliest creations for various lesser endeavors. For its time, this album may not have been the most original thing ever conceived, but in the absence of similarly polished diamonds of blackened ice, its value has multiplied massively. It is hopeful that, in time, others will rediscover this album, and with even greater hope that Sechtdaemon will resurrect this project and show us where the next destination under the sad stars will be.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on June 1, 2010.

Odium is a band that should be known and loved by all fans of black metal. Unfortunately, they seem to be one of the most underrated bands in the genre. It is sad that they only released one album (a fantastic album at that). If they had continued to put forth more material and make a name for themselves, I have no doubt they would be held in the same regard as the most legendary black metal artists.

The Sad Realm of the Stars creates a depressing, atmospheric mood, while at the same time maintaining breakneck speed and anger. The keyboards contributed greatly to the atmosphere, remaining high in the mix but not drowning out the other instruments. While the keys tend to hold out long, sad sounding chords, the guitars also add to the depressing mood without sacrificing speed or aggression. At times the music enters a very melodic and beautiful sounding passage, most notably in the albums conclusion. “Riding the Starwinds.” Even the bass, an often-neglected aspect of the genre, gets its chance to shine occasionally on the album, such as the bass interlude found on “Toward the Forest Horizon.” The instruments truly convey a mental image of the stars, the vast emptiness of space, and the sadness felt upon contemplating this reality.

The drum work is fantastic. It is never boring or repetitive, often throwing in interesting fills and alternating tastefully between accurate blastbeats and slower tempos. This helps keep the listener’s interest, rather than letting monotonous drumwork lull the listener into a trance-like state of boredom that is found in sub-par black metal. Of course, this band exceeds all standards of excellence within the genre. The vocals, although rarely varying, are excellent as well. The high-pitched shrieks, emphasized by the occasional double-tracked vocals, also add to the depressive feeling found over the course of this album.

This band is easily one of my favorite black metal groups, and it pains me to see this album not receive the praise it deserves. The genre is overloaded with bands that imitate those that came before them, and rarely meet the standards set by their predecessors. Odium easily meets any and all expectations. While The Sad Realm of the Stars may be their first and only full-length, it could easily be compared to the classic albums that have received more attention than this unknown gem.

OK, so this album holds only pale shades against Moon in the Scorpio but it’s definitely up there with the other Limbonic Art albums, actually, if you knew nothing about Limbonic Art you could easily be tricked into thinking this was something by that band, or vice versa, except with a different vocalist.

If someone said to me, Odium became Limbonic Art later, I'd actually believe them, even though Limbonic Art was actually formed before Odium. The similarities between the two bands is pretty astounding especially when you take into account no members for either band are involved with each other. A bit like Dissection and Sacramentum, although some members do actually cross in bands such as Zyklon. Anyway, this band has a similar image (from about Moon in the Scorpio to In Abhorrence), similar music even similar art work. The band was even signed on the same record company as Limbonic Art at the time, Nocturnal Art productions.

The band has symphonic elements in the songs ala Limbonic Art. Personally, I love symphonic black metal when done well; it has a great aural aesthetic appeal. As with all symphonic black metal bands, the symphony is in key minor, that is sad. Again, like in Moon in the Scorpio, through the symphonic elements in this album, the album gets a magical feel to it and conjures up images of stars and space. The piano pieces on this album are melancholic and beautiful.

The riffs on this album are good to say the least. They are often combined well with the symphonic elements. Sometimes this can be shoddily done and you get a goofy aural effect. The guitars are dark and sinister sounding and overall reinforce the sad feeling on this album.

The only real difference between Limbonic Art and Odium are the vocals and the drumming. The vocals are a lot better than what you can find on Limbonic Art up to Legacy of Evil. They are cold and hate filled and really fit the atmosphere on this album well. The drumming again is superb, Eek (weak black metal name) is by all standards a great drummer, and the drumming in this album is technical and could only be performed by quite accomplished drummers.

So all in all, this is a solid piece of symphonic black metal which is unfortunately overlooked. The band is currently on-hold for unknown reasons, so it may be possible that they will (hopefully) release a new album soon, although personally, I am not very optimistic. My compliant about this album is that it's far too short. Had the album been about 20 minutes or even 30 minutes longer, then it would have been much better, especially because the band has never released another album.

Aside: I just found out the cover art on this album was done by Morfeus of Limbonic Art, which is why the album cover is so similar to In Abhorrence... and over Limbonic Art albums. It is therefore possible that the two bands had extensive contact which each other and possibly borrowed and influenced each other, hence the similarities on this album.

A Norwegian Black Metal band that uses keyboards for atmosphere released a CD through Nocturnal Arts Productions in the late 1990’s and hardly anyone knows the band exists…Sounds impossible??? Well, it isn’t. ODIUM are a band that have not received the kind of praise they deserve for releasing “ THE SAD REALM OF THE STARS”. And this situation still perpetuates.

It seems sad that bands like Limbonic Art and Sirius are considered to be the best signings of Nocturnal Art, when neither could compare to ODIUM. Not in the eyes of anyone who respects Black Metal. The ever so renowned Limbonic Art put keyboards in first position and even used non-BM sounding samples on each of their releases, while the Portuguese Sirius just created shallow, uninspired music that is but a failed copy of what Scandinavian bands can do. How anyone can overlook ODIUM ’s “THE SAD REALM…” is beyond my comprehension. The sad tones are there indeed thanks to the keyboards, which is very effective, yet the do not make any compromises as far as the guitars are concerned. These are totally freezing at all times, and clearly the dominant instrument. The production has not disregarded the drums or vocals either, as the overall sound is one of high quality and creates a great musical ensemble. In short, this album by ODIUM can only be described as being “sadly beautiful”… Or “beautifully sad”, make your choice. At any rate, it eclipses any doubt that sadness can be the most pleasant of musical experiences… This is Black Metal at its best soundwise and inspirationwise, and the keyboards, though not complex, are used more effectively than I have heard on most other Black Metal releases. Listening to this band, one would think they are Swedish rather than from Norge, maybe because ODIUM have used the best BM elements stemming from both countries and created an excellent album.


Whenever depression gnaws on your soul and you look up at the nightsky, “THE SAD REALM OF THE STARS” will provide you with the ideal atmosphere to ease your pain. It’s something to experience when you’re alone and down, an experience to be enjoyed…in overwhelming sorrow.

This band has no reputation what so ever. No one that I know seems to have heard of them. Actually two people have, but only because it had members of Myrkskog. This is very different from Myrkskog in that it is pure black metal as opposed to a blackened death metal. "The Sad Realm of the Stars" is a perfect title for this record. It reminds me a lot of looking up at the stars on some lonely cold night. Its not a space themed record like a lot of black metal bands like to do these days. The songs are very lonely and sad sounding. They really do remind me of just being alone and remembering some great loss. The guitars are aggressive and fast most of the time, but still have that sorrowful vibe. There are prominently featured keyboards the help to build the mood of the record. The keys dont detract from the guitar riffs, which are very black metal in thier style. The vocals are fairly typical but dont get boring. For some reason this sounds Swedish at times, not quite Norwegian, although it is indeed, and all Nowegian cast. Fans of stuff like Sorhin, Dark Fortress, and Emperor (sort of a simpler Nightside Eclipse sound) should really dig this. Overall this record isnt perfect, but it is very enjoyable and worth having.