Odonata

Amethystium | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 14, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Neurodisc/Fontana
• ASIN: B000A2GYA8
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,661 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #81 in Music > World Music > Europe > Scandinavia > Norway

Track Listings

1. Opaque

2. Ilona

3. Enchantement

4. Dreamdance

5. Tinuviel

6. Avalon

7. Calantha

8. Odyssey

9. Fairyland

10. Paean

11. Arcane Voices

12. Ascension

13. Ethereal

14. Lhasa

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deep, melancholy, dream, splendid., January 8, 2002

By 

Distant Voyageur "Nicholas Computer" (Io) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Odonata (Audio CD)

I will never forget when the Gregorian chants of Arcane Voices came out of my speaker when I played it. The music is very ambient, dark, mysterious and deep with lots of emotion. It's kind of like Delerium or a watered down Enigma but more trippy and electronic.

I often listen to Opaque with the Sanskrit Chants, Ilona with the opera singing, Dreamdance with the beautiful Native American Flutes, Tinuviel, and Etheral with the very sad melody. In fact I love this whole album from start to finish for an hour long journey. Few New Age CDs have the stunning ambient New Age sound. This has got to be one of the best new age albums I have ever listened to. The album cover art with the dragonfly is perfect for the music on this CD.

Every song is like a story being told to me and it brings up images of dark clouds in the west getting darker but with the red sun breaking through hole giving a sign of hope. Few other New Age albums give such fantastic images. This album could go well with the Lord Of The Rings movie.

Opaque is a very ambient song with almost danceable beats, electronic soaring blips and Sanskrit Chants. It starts out as a minor note and then it becomes a major note. Ilone has some whistling in the background at the beginning along with dark ominous sounds. It then becomes another great new age song a lot like Opaque but more electronic. It has some opera vocals. It brings up images of a white glowing fairy in a background of forest on a dark cloudy evening. Enchantment is what the title says, enchanting! It's very Gothic with Middle Eastern chants with some pianos and some flutes. Dreamdancer is a more Native American influenced song. It's not as hounting as Enchantment but nonetheless haunting. Tinuviel is a very sad song with mostly keyboards and flutes. My one complaint about this song is that it's only about three minutes long. Oh Well. It's still great though. Avalon is another ambient song. While it doesn't seem to rank up as well as most of the others on this album it's still a great song. Calantha is a slow paced song with almost what I guess would be Female Gregorian chants. Then electronic blips come in. Odyssey starts off with echoing chimes and then becomes another haunting ambient stormy song with a danceable beat. Fairytale is a very dreamy song with flutes, pianos and some worldly beats. Paean is another dreamy song. This song will have to grow on you but then you'll love it as well. Arcane Voices was what made me love this album immediately upon the first ten seconds of listening. This song could fit well an Enigma record. It's very ominous, Gothic with Gregorian chants and electronic. It also has the shooting star sound effects from the beginning of Sadeness off Enigmas MCMXC album. Fans of Sadeness should listen to this song especially those who were dissapointed by Enigmas post MCMXC material. Ascension is another danceable dreamy song. It's another grower. Etheral made me cry upon first listening. It's very sad yet heppy at the same time with like the closing song to a fantasy movie. In fact this song could have made a perfect closing song to the Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship of the Rings movie because it brings up images of the dark clouds in the distance at the end of the movie. It's even better than May It Be by Enya and that was one of the best songs she had done in a long time. Lhasa is a slow paced song with medievel marching beats. It brings this epic journey to a close with mostly chimes ringing with strange sound effects.

I literrally Embraced this album the first 3 seconds of listening. This has got to be the best New Age album I have heard in years. It may rival Freuds Time Passengers for the best New Age album of all time in my opinion.

It would be cool idea if Enya could some day experiment with some Gregorian Chants on some future material. It would be a fresh new sound for her. But let's enjoy what this Norwegian musical genius has brought is. I hope we don't have to wait too long for a follow up to this fantasic album. This album is already a New Age classic. I will enjoy it till the end of time.

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchantment, November 30, 2002

By 

Erica Anderson (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Odonata (Audio CD)

I recently stumbled upon this album in the used cd bins. I was quite surprised to find a copy of "Odonata" in the used bins. Along with Clan of Xymox and "State of Grace", I quickly snapped up this album. Being a big fan of Enigma and Delerium, I was very curious to hear this album. I automatically fell in love with the music the moment I heard the haunting, ethereal sounds of "Opaque". I adored the lush sounds of the pan flutes on that particular song. The sanskrit chants on that song was more subtle and not nearly as obvious than what you might hear on an Enigma cd. The mellow electronic beats was a nice addition to the song and they added depth to the song. The female vocals on "Ilona" were breathtaking. Whoever contributed her voals to that song reminded me a lot like Loreena McKennitt and Enya. "Ilona" is one of my most personal favorite songs on the entire cd. "Odonata" has such a dreamlike quality in its music. Both the vocals and instruments don't overwhelm each other and bombard the listener. "Enchantment" definitely reminds me of something Delerium had done in the days when they were on Hypnotic/Cleopatra Records. The hypnotic synthesizers had that same quality that I have heard on "Spheres" and "Spheres II". "Odonata" is a stunning album. I absolutely love it. I could not find a single track on the album that I didn't like.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AMETHYSTIUM is one RARE GEM!, November 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Odonata (Audio CD)

It must be said at the outset, that I rarely contribute reviews, but when an exceptional cd like this comes along, I feel compelled to offer my thoughts, for whatever they are worth. Having said that, let me also say that I have at least 200 New Age/World Music cds in my cd library and this is in the top ten at the moment.

I find this cd unique-sounding on some tracks, but other tracks share musical tastes with other artists. The editor compared this to artists such as Tangerine Dream and Deep Forest. Tracks 1 (Opaque) and 4 (Dreamdance) mix these 2 sounds together and it is surprisingly stunning. Another artist that achieves this same sound is Waterbone (the album is "Tibet") and if you like what you hear on these tracks, you will love Waterbone.

Track 11 (Arcane Voices) will no doubt remind many listeners of Enigma or Delerium.

An artist's sound that is also featured on this cd is Davol, one of my favorite keyboardists. Tracks 7 (Calantha), 9 (Fairyland), 12 (Ascension), and 14 (Lhasa) all mimic his melodic and ethereal music.

My favorite "mellow" track is 13 (Ethereal). It is hauntingly beautiful and cannot be compared to any other artist that I know of.

If I had to choose 5 favorites they would be 1 (Opaque), 3 (Enchantment), 4 (Dreamdance), 8 (Odyssey), and, of course, 13 (Ethereal). But there is really not a weak track on the cd, though I sometimes skip 5 (Tinuviel) and 6 (Avalon) for they do not measure up to the others (in my humble opinion).

I do so hope that Amethystium will not wait too long in putting out another album. All of the reviewers are unanimous in their praise of this excellent cd and would no doubt beat a path down to their nearest music store in the event of a new release.