Oracle Octave Part I: Orion Mystery

One of the most prolific artists in music, Senmuth is the project of a multi-instrumentalist Russian who goes by the same name. While the project's first few albums were rooted in some type of ambient industrial metal, there have been multiple stylistic shifts in the band's sound that have touched upon various types of regional ethnic folk music, electronica, doom metal and djent, though it's quite hard to keep up with the output. As of this writing Senmuth has dropped 254 releases. If that wasn't awe-inspiring enough, I've yet to come across a blatantly terrible or unlistenable album out of the bunch.

Oracle Octave Part I: Orion Mystery was released back in 2005 and was Senmuth's tenth album. While Senmuth's career may have begun with the industrialized metal styling of Cognitive Discord, by the time this album came around Senmuth had all but removed the industrial elements from his sound in favor of spacey ambiance and ethnic instrumentation. The tracks here see a fantastic blending of folksy, drum circle vibes on the percussion with spacey, ambient backing tracks, poppy bass, and some really catchy guitar licks. Everything merges together so nicely, often cresting with a crescendo of melodic, electric guitar riffs, yet not losing sight of the ethnic tinged instrumentation. Acoustic strumming and selective piano notes offer a lush background, while Mediterranean scales flit past like a summer breeze. That being said, there are a some relatively heavy, doom-laden portions, like during “Horizont of Gize”, which plays like a spacey funeral dirge, though the spirits are lifted by some rather upbeat keys towards the end.

Perhaps this blend it was makes the album so refreshing and still so relevant after thirteen years and more than two hundred albums later. It's a blend of mystical, ethnic instrumentation, spacey ambient, and just a touch of metallic sensibility. It plays through like some type of ancient aliens space exploration soundtrack, though it's much less hokey than that sounds. While fans of Senmuth should already have eaten this one up, it's a fantastic place for a newcomer to start delving into this massively daunting back catalog.