Album
Type: Full Length
Date
Released: 17/01/2020
Label:
Independent
“Meridians” DD track listing:
1). Offen
2). Beacon / Ox Eye
3). White Horse / Tempest
4). Ratlines
The
Review:
There is an expanse. A sprawling, black expanse. Dead, hopeless,
untouched by light. A thick atmosphere covering all life like a black shroud.
It is a bleak place, though not a place without its own beauty. On “Meridians”,
The Osedax transports us to that place,
holds our hand on our journey, and takes us closer to the edge of the abyss
than humanity was ever meant to go.
The worlds created by The Osedax (and that is very much
what they are, fully formed worlds) tell thousands of stories in their ambient
dissonance. There are stories of sorrow and pain, and of life and death.
Stories of war and of peace. They take
you to a place of absolute serenity before punishing you with crushing force. “Meridians”
is truly an album for all seasons.
We begin with “Offen”, a slow
dirge of mind bending atmospheres that gives way to a powerful, rhythmic march.
The ethereal ambience of the introduction breaks abruptly, creating a chaotic
feeling. It's almost panic inducing. Like a car crash on a Sunday drive.
“White Horse / Tempest”
brings us back into that ambient void. It lulls us for quite a while, with a
heavy anxiety hanging in the air for that thunderous catastrophe to hit. This
album keeps you on edge. When that shift finally comes, it is a dense blackened
sludge that you find yourself trampled under.
Beacon / Ox Eye
then takes us to a beautiful place, with subtle melancholic guitars spinning a
yarn of fragile hope. This serenity is quickly ripped away to pounding rhythms
and shrieks of agony before returning to that same haunting ground which once
again will give way to chaos.
The album closes graciously with the
cool off period of “Ratlines”. It
grabs hold of the listener and rocks them calmly with its spacious melodies.
The anxiety of a crash is still present, but the tracks keeps its promise of
safety.
“Meridians” is
an emotional rollercoaster. Taken in one sitting, you can expect a white-knuckle
experience of tension and relief that gives the album a very cinematic feeling.
This is a very moving piece. It's dark and light, dense and airy, beautiful and
hideous. You might not have a good time throughout the course of this album,
but when it's done you are left fulfilled, with a sense that every storm will
eventually break, and night will always eventually give way to day.
All in all, this is a story of hope
and joy. It is a hope that is earned, not given. If you enjoy music that can
create great spans of emotion in you, then this is for you. Lose yourself in
it. Experience all it has to offer for better or worse. It is an experience,
and one that I can highly recommend at that.
“Meridians”
is available HERE
