Delerium was formed in 1987 as a Front Line Assembly side project. However, while FLA has belonged to EBM and industrial-electronic genres, Delerium has been presenting a broad spectrum of styles over the years. Their sound varies from ambient trance, ethereal electronic or electronic pop music. They have collaborated with various artists such as Tiesto, Niels van Gogh, Seven Lions, Airscape, Above and Beyond and many other prominent producers and remixers. Their most famous hit “Silence” with Sarah McLachlan is still considered one of the greatest trance songs of all time.
Mythologie is their first release on Metropolis. The album features several new collaborations with distinctive singers and songwrters like JES, Phildel, Mimi Page and Geri Soriano-Lightwood, as well as Jaël (of the Swiss group Lunik) and Leah Randi (Pink, Abandoned Pools), both of whom appeared on previous Delerium releases.
Mythologie is an album that takes you on a deep emotional voyage where you have the opportunity to explore the ethereal ambient soundscapes created by instruments and vocals. The angelic female vocals that contributed to this exceptional release are delivering the idea of the album in such a dreamy and divine way that you get mesmerised, and this experience starts with the very first track, “Blue Fires”. If you are into some relaxing, yet deep and thoughtful music, keep listening or “Keep on Dreaming”. By the third track of that very title, you are already submerged into this fantastic ethereal world. Delerium gives you the break from the everyday rush, making you reflect on your inner feelings and helping you get in touch with your own emotions. They offer more pop sound on “Stay”, but it still keeps the mellow and soft touch that the band decided to follow throughout this release.
So far “Blue Fires” and “Ritual” are my favourite Mythologie tracks. “Ritual” provides a catchy chorus and great arrangements and although Phildel’s vocal performance is again haunting and mystical, the overall feel of the song is more poppy and shows a real hit potential.
After the instrumental “Seven Gates of Thebes”, there comes a surprising change when “Ghost Requiem” brings us more of the trip hop feeling and this time I would describe the vocal performance more RnB oriented. Again, the track is blessed with the beautiful chorus. The song shows the brilliantly crafted merging of various genres. It is a mix of electronic pop and trip hop, touching RnB at moments and even going jazzy and funky. “Once in a Lifetime” continues with that trippy feeling, but in a more mainstream pop manner. The last three tracks take us back to the electronic soundscapes with “Continuum” being somewhat more experimental than the rest of the material. And to end it, there is one more of those so soothing tracks: “Dark Visions” leaves you with the general idea of the album: dark ethereal ambient electronic experience! Mythologie is an album consisting of twelve wonderfully crafted tracks, perfect for the journey to your soul.
