Tomydeepestego are an Italian instrumental band that began writing music in 2006. The press sheet that accompanied Odyssea boasts that the band combines aspects of Neurosis, Isis, Pelican, and Mogwai, and that they have opened for Cult of Luna and Red Sparowes. Name-dropping these artists - plus seeing that Robotic Empire took care of the U.S. distribution - definitely caught my attention even before I listened to the album. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxious to get this in the mail.
Odyssea begins with "Euskadia." The track begins without sounding very original or special, but ends with some promise. It's a rather generic song in the world of post-metal/instrumental/post-whatever, not offering anything "fresh."
"Mizar" is much better than the opener. Tomydeepestego's self-stated Isis influence is definitely noticeable throughout this track. In fact, it could be an Isis song, but it's missing the vocals of Aaron Turner and the more melodic, clean parts. "Ius Primae Noctis," the shortest track on the album, is only two-and-a-half minutes long. It feels like an interlude, using the more mellow aspects of their influences to form a song. This interlude leads into "Renovatio," a song that sounds like it needs a singer until halfway through, when it picks up a more instrumental vibe.
The majority of the songs are longer than they need to be; six out of eight of them are over six minutes in length and could be shortened considerably. If a band wants to keep a listener's attention for eleven minutes and twenty-seven seconds, there should be a substantial amount of variety throughout the song.
Sadly, Tomydeepestego did not live up to my expectations as the Red Sparowes-opener/Isis-Mogwai hybrid that the press sheet so boldly boasts. Odyssea is not a throw away album, but it lacks some sort of distinguishable characteristics. I'm not turned off by the music, but I didn't find a reason to want to listen to the album aside from reviewing it.
