270 light years away at magnitude 5,5 is the South Pole star, or Sigma Octantis, secretly hidden in space barely visible for the naked eye. So have this French ritualistic ambient project with the same name been a secret, but by releasing this fine CD on Divine Comedy this will change soon for this is an excellent CD.
Invocations is an outstanding recording with industrial edges, a fine mix of new wave, Tribal rhythms, rock guitars and melodic synths. The cinematic and dark atmosphere creates pictures of a modern tale of occult mysteries, but also leads you through times of the past were men worshiped the sun and the constellations.
The music can easily be compared to Morthound. Sigma Octantis does not make any secret of being inspired by this classic Cold Meat act as they even have a track called Spindrift. There are also influences to be heard from other great Cold Meat acts such as Sephiroth and Deutsch Nepal, but there is enough own input in their music.
Invocation can be considered an ambient or ritual album but there are also tracks that are more up-tempo like their opening track “Contre L’horizon”. This is a bombastic and swinging track to compare with Rosa Crux, may be this is because of the sound of the guitar and the structure of the song as well. This guitar sound is often to be heard on this album and is a beautiful complementation to the atmosphere of the music.
Other songs like “Possibilités du Dialogue” are slow and more towards ambient but it always is melodic with a certain song structure. It is this quality that makes this album also attractive for those who are not particular into ambient or ritual music. “Spindrift” is a great track somewhere between “Canalizer” by Morthound and “Benovelence” by Deutsch Nepal. And lets be honest, there are worse things to be compared with.
What I specially like about this album is that there are real instruments to be heard like guitar and bass as in “Ab Irato” , a slow, dark and oppressing track with a slow threatening swing. The music is basically percussive with a lot of different methods used like metal, wood and skin, it give great power to the music, while the melodies are evolving and absorbing.
The melody sometimes leans toward new wave orientated music as in “Molles Avalanches”, in which the guitar melody remind me of the Cocteau Twins, and their last track “Pour Les Choses à Venir”, where I also trace a hint of Clan of Xymox.
This recording has a lot to offer to the listener and I can recommend this to everyone who is into Cold Meat related music, but also to those setting their first steps in this genre and want to taste some of the best this genre has to offer.
An impressive release with outstanding melodic ritualistic new wave. I think new wave have been an important influence as well, and it is this combination that gives this release great value.
Grade: 8.5
Review by: Remco