Orbital Soul System to release Nightwing!
Multi-instrumentalist U-Gene first came to prominence as guitarist for Rakoth, contributing his talents to that eclectic band’s ever evolving sound. However, U-Gene has always been driven by a personal vision and in 2015 the first steps along the road of his solo venture were taken. Different names for the project came and went and a debut album was recorded in 2017, but it was 2021 when Orbital Soul System finally emerged from this period of uncertainty and that album, Eternal Voyage, was released. Fusing avant-garde metal and deep cosmic electronics, the Orbital Soul System journey had begun. Now, five years on, U-Gene has returned with the next chapter in Orbital Soul System’s epic odyssey through the farthest reaches of reality - Nightwing - an album that meditates upon the meaning of human existence and upon our inevitable, ultimate demise…that looks out beyond the farthest star but also into our souls; that reads the tragic tale of our march towards destruction in the events that unfold around us every day. Welcome aboard, the countdown to launch has begun.
“Do not look behind. Cast your gaze into the fractured depths of the shimmering void…”
- Into The Abyss
Opening instrumental ‘NK-12’ serves as a dimming of the lights, a raising of the curtain for the drama that is to follow. Its glittering electronics are full of suggestion and possibilities, alive with trepidation and excitement as we are gradually immersed within it…and then propelled into stately progress of ‘Into The Abyss’. Powerful guitars march in proud, unwavering majesty through a starfield of dazzling melody while a harsh voice with an aura of omnipotence intones its message of unembellished truth. This is the sound of elsewhere and elsewhen, we have left behind the small chaos of our daily existence to look upon greater things. Every song that follows is part of Nightwing’s sonic universe, but every song is also a galaxy in its own right – individually potent, powerful, beautiful and enthralling. From the intensely isolating melancholy of ‘The Last One’, where the flowing synths carry the gravity of our passing into eternity, but also the simple, unremarkable inevitability of it, to the rolling, floating melodies, the notes like ephemeral nirvanas balanced by the grinding heaviness of gritty guitars and implacable vocals that form ‘Tsiolkovsky’ – a paen to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the pioneer of astronautics, a brilliant scientist who envisioned a future for humanity amongst the stars. From ‘The Wanderer’ that leads us into the realms of sleep and takes on the idiosyncratic, unpredictable nature of dreams, to the climactic ‘42’ with its driving riffs, meandering melodies, uplifting guitar solo and nod of acknowledgement to all readers of Douglas Adams…Nightwing is vast and overwhelming, finely detailed and minutely magical, desperately distant yet poignant and intimate – a staggering creation of breathtaking contrasts.
“To guide a rocket through the azure clouds. To see in reality what once was dreamed.”
- Tsiolkovsky
Mixed and mastered by Vladimir Lehtinen (Grima, Second To Sun etc) and adorned in the striking artwork of Mosaeye (Frozen Ocean, Nox Doloris etc), Nightwing will be independently released on October 1st, available on all major streaming platforms and through Bandcamp. Deeply affecting, emotive and thought-provoking this work of progressive metal, dark electronica and melodic, blackened death is like a beacon, calling out across the universe - listen - and be ready to receive its message.
“Time, with a sigh, continues its course. Will anyone remember you?”
- The Last One
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