ANCALIMON: FATES OF ODEMYR

The 28th album by Senmuth..........

In the case of a discography spanning 78 albums to this date, you can only dip into the material on a random basis, although I am sure there is one among us who want to review all Senmuth albums. I may even do that myself before I am put into a retirement home.

The reason why I may review the 300 Senmuth albums (a rough estimate of his output before I get through them all) is that this is actually a very interesting project. Senmuth's sound may be computer generated, but his outputs is still very interesting. As I randomly picked this album, I discover an album which differs from the other two I have already reviewed.

Ancalimon: Fates of Odemyr is a pretty gothic album with a grandiose soundscape. This album starts like a huge gothic cathedral before it turns into a more organic and more subtle soundscape. At the end, strong flavors of the band Camel appears. Goth Metal meets Camel in a computer generated landscape, in other words. The guitar is pretty good here. Hence the Camel references.

The quality is good throughout and this an enjoyable album. It is also a free download, but it is as good as most goth rock albums you are paying a fortune for in a record shop or online. Good stuff !!

3 stars

'Ancalimon: Fates Of Odemyr' - Senmuth (4/10)

Quite frankly and simply put, this is a bit boring.

After a pretty successful bout with the epic 'Bark Of Ra,' it seems that Senmuth has fallen back a few steps, back into a relative state of mediocrity. As can be said for so many of the Russian one man project's releases, there's alot of potential underneath the surface of the music on 'Ancalimon,' but it is rarely ever tapped into.

A lesser known fact about this album is that it was written to be the soundtrack to a computer game. While the game itself seems to have never appeared on the map, we are left with this music, which is generally bleak, cold and almost mechanical. While 'Ancalimon' is generally very similar to alot of the music Senmuth released over the course of 2007, there is definately more of an industrial flavour here. In terms of composition and songwriting, it might be best to consider this another one of the man's 'ambient' pieces, due to the fact that there is little here that really rings memorably with the listener, besides a few sparse gated-delay 'surfer' guitar sections which are pleasantly surprising to listen to amongst the generally exhausted soundscape.

The only track here that really impresses is the opener 'Neilos,' which incorperates some pretty straightforward metal riffs into a latin-tinged, horn fueled rage. With that being said, the 'horn' (or at least the sound of the 'horn,' many of the instruments heard here are artificial) is very prevalent on 'Ancalimon,' which could have worked well, were it not for the obnoxious sound of the synthesized tones. Besides that, many of the songs flow harmlessly along as backing tracks. Occasionally Senmuth will bring some of his soloing into the matter, but it lacks the tact to keep the tracks interesting, unfortunately.

Senmuth has had better releases than this, so there's not too much point in giving this a listen past the first track. To it's credit however, I can see this music working much better as a soundtrack to some sort of media. As it stands however, 'Ancalimon' does not stand out above it's peers.

I have started this review several times. I find difficult writing something meaningful about this album. Not that it's bad, but I don't find major differences with the Senmuth's usual production. "Neilos" (the Greek name of Nilos river) is quite a good track, with a good balance between the soft and hard parts. Good for a soundtrack.

The newage intro of "Yuzar" is very melodic and can remind to Vangelis or Tangerine Dream, two things that I really like. The sudden change in the second half of the track doesn't break the continuity and later there's a good guitar solo. After the solo there's a keyboard coda that goes back to where it started.

"Nisalon Forest" is just a classical Senmuth's track, made of industrial metal mixed with ethnig Egyptian instruments.

"Dar-Gerut" is not much different. All the last three titles seems to be related in some way to Turkey.

"Mountains" features a distorted guitar, or better every instrument is distorted, apart drums, and its ambient is close to the Senmuth's debut Cognitive Discord, even if without the obviously distorted voice. There's room for a good guitar solo.

Like Mountains, "Hargon" is reminder of the origins of Senmuth, with the distorsion kit giving a typical sound to a trakc that otherwise would sound new age, as it does in the middle part, before a good guitar solo comes.

"Talton" is slow and very dark, with the melody carried on by what seems to be a loop.

In opposition, "Zanuras" is made by a bass keyboard chord and a classical guitar. Dark also this, but nylon strings always give good sensations. Good piece, but just an interlude on a single minor chord.

The guitar on "Nalgira" is electric, instead. The sound is quite clean, but the keyboards are dark again. Each time the guitar is back it's like it brings a bit of light into this dark track. Some parts are performed by the classical guitar, too.

After 28 albums it's now time to change something. taken alone this is absolutely not bad, but it's another repetition of the usual themes

Rounded up to three stars