Artist: ODIN’S COURT
Album: DEATHANITY (CD)

Year: 2008
Media type: CD

Odin’s Court is a Maryland, USA band that was initially formed by Matt Brookins in 2001. For the first 2 years the band struggled to find their sound, playing covers and originals ranging from classic rock to modern metal and everything in between. It was during this time that John Abella joined the group. By 2003 a stable lineup and vision were in place, and Odin’s Court release the self financed album Driven By Fate. Over the next 3 years the band would go through 3 more lineup changes, eventually releasing another CD and a DVD (both self financed) and concurrently establishing a stable, cohesive unit that has been maintained to this day.

Odin’s Court has been known to perform energetic live shows, and in 2004, the band’s live sound was taken to the next level by adding Rick Pierpont and Savino Palumbo. The band has primarily gigged in the mid-Atlantic region; however, they have played festivals, mini-tours, and one-off shows in other areas such as NYC, Atlanta, Boston, and San Francisco. Odin’s Court has shared the stage with many classic and modern greats, including Symphony X, Spock’s Beard, King’s X, Kamelot, Steve Whiteman (Kix, Funny Money), Sonata Arctica, Helloween, Jon Oliva’s Pain, Zero Hour, Crimson Glory, Circle II Circle, Devin Townsend, Enchant, and more.

In 2004, Brookins began writing songs and working on the concept for their latest effort Deathanity, an ambitious album dealing with the effects mankind’s actions are having on the planet. Joined in 2005 by Craig Jackson, another enthusiastic composer, the songs and ideas were further developed and perfected. Brookins created words and fictitious dictionary entries with inspired album art for each song, further contributing to the organic feel.

Deathanity displays why Odin’s Court is difficult to fit into a genre; ambience, dynamics, and soul are combined with complexity, groove, and energy in a song oriented structure, to create a unique, surreal landscape. Including a configuration similar to that of the classic Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon, Deathanity utilizes saxophone and backing female vocalists, and includes a palate scattered with spoken vocal clips and vast ranging sound effects. Special guest vocalists include Tom Englund (Evergrey) and Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica).

Odin’s Court draws from legendary inspirations like Pink Floyd, Boston, Queen, Rush, Metallica, Yes, Iron Maiden, and Journey as well as more modern bands such as Devin Townsend, Chroma Key, OSI, Porcupine Tree, Type O Negative, Dream Theater, and Tool. Composers Beethoven, Mozart, Yanni, and Bach also serve as inspiration in their music.



...There's wonderful variety from section to section, the instrumentation and the songwriting are clearly the album's strengths, and the bass guitar is dominant on almost all sections of the record, and really comes to the fore on "Cosmosera". The vocals might have selective appeal. For example, "Animaulic" has strong, angry tones in the chorus which are very effective, whereas the multi-part choral sections are delivered in an odd timbre, with pitch control problems. We understand that Odin's Court puts on an excellent stage show - which probably explains their opening for countless notable prog and metal acts - including Symphony X, Spock's Beard, King's X, Kamelot, Enchant, Circa, Sonata Arctica, Jon Oliva, Zero Hour, Devin Townsend, Enchant and Helloween. On balance it's a rewarding listen and is recommended.

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TRACKLIST:

01. Terracide
02. Volatilestial
03. Manifest Destiny
04. Oceanica Toxica
05. Mammonific
06. Animaulic
07. Esoterica
08. Crownet
09. Obesite
10. Ode to Joy
11. Cosmosera
12. Vastificant

LINE-UP:

Matt Brookins – Vocals & Guitar
John Abella – Drums & Percussion
Savino Palumbo – Keyboards
Craig Jackson – Bass Guitar
Rick Pierpont – Guitar