Ah, Odyssey. In my humble (read: flawed) opinion, this band is the future of Pakistani Metal. If there’s one band that has the talent, musical foresight and most of all, arrogance, to break through and change the face of our pathetic mainstream music scene… it’s Odyssey.

A couple of weeks ago, Hussam Raza, being the awesome guy that he is, invited me to listen to the new Odyssey song: With Him, Came Destruction. Now, if there was anything holding the band back before, it’s all gone. The restraint they showed on their previous two originals (Falling into Infinity and The Last Stand) is completely gone, as if it wasn’t there in the first place. What they’ve done here, is that they’ve given a huge middle finger to the music scene in Pakistan with their boldly epic, free flowing and progressive song structure. Indeed, listening to this song is like watching a ship move freely at sea, just moving calmly ahead with no sense of direction but with a strong desire not to let the crushing waves deter it. This song is progressive in the true sense of the word, it progresses forward from one idea to another, letting every part of the song reach it’s climax before moving onto the next and the transition between the various sections here is truly magnificent. There’s also a sense of arrogance here, a posh elitist arrogance which I actually dig.

The band have finally got the production right on this song. The guitar tone is crunchier, and it is less muddy than that of their previous songs. The outer-space feel of Hussam’s riffs is still there, and the new guitar tone actually aids the atmosphere. Speaking of atmosphere, the keyboard melodies are more prominent than ever before and the result is just orgasmic. If Odyssey were at 80-90 before, they’ve almost reached 100 now, and the better drum sound helps as well. The vocals are well done, as ever, but the highlight of the vocal performance here was definitely the guest appearance from the vocalist of Ruin (that crazy band which covered Raining Blood, look up their cover on youtube). He’s no Hammad fuckin’ Khan, but he’s still pretty good and doesn’t sound like your typical Barney Greenway or Chris Barnes clone.

Overall, this song isn’t something you’d want to headbang to (well, there is that fast Slayer part near the end, but by the time that part comes, you’re so immersed in the song you don’t even want to get off your ass and bang your fucking head!) and it isn’t something you’d want to listen to in your car on the way to school/work. This is a peice of art, and it should be treated as such. Odyssey have finally arrived, people. And with them, they bring salvation.