The Odysseys arrive from Canada not with a gust of cold Northern wind but with a warm spring breeze. Sure, Joe Sciarrillo mimics Ozzy Osbourne's pained voice on "Neuronaut," the progressive hard-rock juggernaut that opens the band's self-titled debut. But much of the rest of The Odysseys takes listeners on a sonic journey — an odyssey, if you will — through progressive and folk arrangements, jazz progressions, Latin beats, and clever lyrics seemingly birthed in some mysterious netherworld: "The walls began to breathe and move/Nobody's stories told the total truth/My head, expanding to the edge of the sky/My feet, calmly treading on the frontiers of the mind."
The quartet features three keyboardists (yet sounds nothing like Saga) and invokes early psychedelic Pink Floyd ("The Rendering of the Maelstrom"), Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young ("Maybe") and the Flower Kings (the 19-and-a-half-minute, four-part epic "The Myth of Elegido"). The use of multiple singers adds depth to these five songs, but muddy production hampers the overall enjoyment of this music – which should ooze from your speakers like golden honey. Nevertheless, the production woes sound less glaring with each subsequent listen as The Odysseys weave a spell that's worth falling under.
Track Listing:
1) Neuronaut
2) Maybe
3) A Slight Awakening of the Subconscious
4) The Rendering of the Maelstrom
5) The Myth of Elegido
a) Bolero
b) Lone Stranger
c) The Return & Conflict
d) Epilogue
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