Ordo Obsidium: Orbis Tertius

After having crawled in darkness for a year, Ordo Obsidium is unleashing their debut full length album. Something tells me this American act won't stop there, and we will get even more darkened echoes from these guys.

This CD contains five tracks of obscurity lasting 47 minutes. You have a long lasting introductory composition and closer in the 12 minutes vicinity. In between you'll hear three relatively shorter numbers; shorter in time duration and not in goodness that is. Of course one would see this is no nature or mythology / spirituality inspired type of black metal. Either by the suggestive cover art or the extreme music herein, the fans will be attracted to a much somber musical path. This material is reminiscent to the more cryptic European genre, most commonly found on releases hailing from France and Italy. No matter where it comes from, this is tasty black metal art. Ordo Obsidium's music is an engulfing soundtrack of suffocating hues. Their art is melodic all along, filled with intensity, melancholy, as well as possessing a certain suicidal edge. Not for the faint of heart or depressive fellow. The pace is quite varied, although I found the moderate and slower ones the most efficient and pleasant to hear. They have a good rhythmic section, very nice guitar work and some ghostly rasps. The production is somewhat muddy, especially in the drumming section. The vocals are somewhat forced, without being too upfront. The harmonies are well covered by the guitar playing; may you prefer the heavily crushing tones, distorted arpeggios or the acoustic tonalities. They make a crafty use of ambient keyboards here and there, which helps re-enforcing the already dense scenery. Of the five compositions, my vote goes for "Into the Gates of Madness" (twisted mid-paced with distorted arpeggios, acoustic guitars and keys), "Orbis Tertius" (slow/crushing, more acoustic and suicidal) and the mighty closer "By his Unflinching Hand". The closing track sum up the talent this band has with more darkened tone conveyed by distorted arpeggios, ghostly voices, acoustic tones, ambient keys, melancholy and musical breaks.

Orbis Tertius will please the extreme listener with a liking for intense melancholia.

Track listing:
1- Nequaquam Vacuum
2- Into the Gates of Madness
3- Orbis Tertius
4- Emptiness Under the Moon
5- By his Unflinching Hand

Added: November 29th 2011
Reviewer: Denis Brunelle
Score:
Related Link: More Information
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Language: english

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