Review ORDER ‘The Gospel’

It was in 2013 when four musicians decided to start a new black metal band called Order. Anders Odden, Rene Jansen, Kjetil Manheim and Billy Messiah, these were the four founding members of Order, a band that revived the roots of Norwegian death and black metal. Cadaver and Mayhem are band names that have defined Norwegian extreme metal, and it is this primal energy that Order captures.

However, not everything went as planned. Bassist Rene Jansen passed away in 2014, leaving a void that was difficult to fill. Order have decided to continue despite the setback and could found with Stu Manx also a replacement on bass. As a fist step on the continuation of Order was that respect was paid to Jansen with the demo ‘Folly Grandeur’ before Order released their debut with ‘Lex Amentiae’.

It took a while until Order finished their second album. After four years, it will be ‘The Gospel’, which will continue the journey into the depth of the black Nordic soul. The second album of the Norwegians has a whole lot of rawness, for which the early days of black metal from Norway were known for. What makes ‘The Ritual’ a smashing album is that the brute and anarchic chaos prevails without losing a certain basic hellish structure. Compromises are looked for in vain on this album and what positively becomes apparent is the fact that Order not only give a furious speed free rein, but also create a devilish counterpart with slow passages. Songs like ‘Lust’ unite this in a well-done manner.

Also worth mentioning is the title track, which with its recurring theme is a blessing for every black-colored heart. The fact that Order have included a short interlude with ‘Gal.Lu’ is just as positive for the album as the intro ‘Pneuma’.

Order manage to bring the black radiance of black metal to light. Extreme metal is certainly not mainstream and ‘The Ritual’ is certainly not an album for John Doe. Nevertheless, Order’s second album has the potential to appeal to metalheads who are normally more connected to other genres of heavy metal and hereby act as an ambassador for metal that includes a pitch-black soul.