Odyssey VI By David De Michele

 

Odyssey VI

By

David De Michele

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

I was, and always have been taken aback by the wonderment of space, the vast stretches of the universe, the infinite cosmos, a stellar nursery, or a lagoon of eternity, within the creations of David De Michele we can touch see and feel the energies of all the aforementioned, and perhaps even more, each musical journey is a peak into a dimension so rare,  so special and untouched, and are we not the lucky ones, as once more we get to push back from space dock and take a voyage to and through Odyssey VI with the composer.

The smooth and transcendent opening piece is akin to us breaking free of orbit and spreading our wings of exploration out into the sectors and regions of space. Odyssey VI is idyllic; it contains a gentle flowing synth style which in its earlier guise is almost classical in arrangement, the percussion breaks us free, and our journey has started.

Within the darker realms of space there moves life as of yet unseen, each one of these forms is its own Collective, its hive minded awareness allows it to survive and thrive, here the artist paints a tapestry of tone so insightful and fresh, it is as if we are staring into a region of space literally being born. De Michele uses his electronic wizardry to good use here, and captures an almost lighter version of what is referred to as Berlin style within the arrangement, this grants us a fixed movement through the composition, but also adds an extra level to the already stunning performance.

We are now Off World, I have recently been watching with a wide eyed wonder, the latest voyage to the moon by Artimis 1, one day the mission will have human travellers, and thus they, like others, will be off world. I can and will ever only be able to imagine what this experience must be like. Musically the artist has it spot on, that feeling of being so small is such as vast place, the realization of being at one with the cosmos; the swirling synth work here is sublime, with the darker elements and mysterious back drop making this piece one of my personal favourites from the album.

Many of us have these; some are completely unaware that then even do, Epiphany, a moment of sudden and great revelation or realization, usually for me they arrive during a meditation, as the mind stills, the clarity becomes evident and truth is found. David De Michele has added a flowing, and one has to say, an incredibly moving performance here into an arrangement that has a meditative quality to its overall essence.

Following on from the last track and the thoughts that came from it, this seems somewhat appropriate now, to be enjoying a piece called Revelation. Cleverly thought-out, the musician now brings us the resultant and aforementioned Epiphany.  One has to admire how he brings us a hesitant start, while one contemplates the said revelation, and then the percussion almost manifests that lightbulb going on in the mind’s eye, without doubt one of the cleverest creations from the release.

As we slow speed to impulse, we find ourselves in deep space, where we find the offering Immersion. The artist is really showing his growth here, as we can attribute the brilliance of this piece to the last two tracks as well, the Epiphany, the Revelation, and now to absolute Immersion, as we now gain a deeper focus. The ethereal qualities of this track were quite breath taking, one feels pulled to all areas at once, but without losing integrity, this is a floating masterpiece by De Michele, bringing something almost Jonn Serrie to our galactic table.

The last but one song is utterly beautiful and entitled Illumination, our very own light bulb moment, listen to the soft pastiche of synths here, the gentle caress of the artist’s creative keyboard structures, and as we do we can drift on a bed of gained knowledge, by simply enjoying the moment. This is a slice of symphonic genius by the musician, and goes to justify the sheer quality of his compositions.

So we finally end this sojourn through the stars, and with a concluding arrangement entitled Epoch. How fitting as this particular period of time within the realms of David De Michele’s latest creation Odyssey VI is now nearly over. The slow calming coda of this track is juxtaposed perfectly with a light percussive beat, one which manifests an anthem like conclusion to the album, which in creative terms is simply and utterly brilliant.

Odyssey VI by David De Michele is yet another in a wonderfully artistic line of sublime space based releases. The album is also an intriguing step forward as well, as he incorporates slight classical nuances into certain arrangements, we also have layered and texture soundscapes that seems to grow and expand whilst being listened to, and the smooth transmission of each piece is quite blissful, simply put, if you are a fan of space based electronic ambient music, this is a must have for your collection.