Sear Bliss has been around since 1993, and The Arcane Odyssey is their sixth studio album. The songs are black metal with doom and death influences. Keyboards add a symphonic quality to the music, and the arrangements are complex and progressive. Add the brass on top of that and you have an album with a lot of depth and variety. Some songs are groovy with memorable riffs. Others are darker, dissonant and atmospheric.
The guitar work on the album is diverse as well. You'll hear everything from basic downtuned riffs to complex noodling to old school solos. There are acoustic guitars on the album as well. The Arcane Odyssey ends with the folky "Path To The Motherland," which adds violin and flute that contrasts the heavier black metal vibes in the song. This is an excellent album, and for black metal fans who haven't yet discovered Sear Bliss, they are well worth seeking out.
