As you may (or may not) know Ordinul Negru is one of Fulmineos’s projects. Active since 2004 as a one man band, it become a full member band later on in 2015 with the purpose of performing live also. Meanwhile after releasing “Sorcery of Darkness” the previous vocalist left the band. Listening to their previous material I do think that Faustian Nights might be the best one. It is a more “mature” approach especially when it comes to production, which is way better on the latter.
Except the 1st and the last track of the album, the rest of them are recorded with Fulmineos as main vocalist. The album has almost 50 minutes of playtime; long enough to listen to and to abuse the replay button. A dark atmosphere interrupted somehow by the clean vocals which sound like an incantation (on the 5th track Elder Magik). This is the shortest track of the album and I haven’t decided yet if it’s one of my favorites or not, together with Killing Tristan. You can also notice (or not) that the sound is not as generic as it was before; starting with the 2nd track of the album the voice changes, a change which in my opinion is more powerful, with much more attitude.
My favorite track is definitely Killing Tristan. With powerful riffs and an amazing drum sound, this might be the perfect mixture between voice and instruments. An addicting guitar sound can be found in the next song entitled The Apocalipse through a Hierophant’s eye– a rhythm which might catch you so hard that you’ll try to sing along. My favorite part of the song are the blast beats at minute 4:50.
Oculta Kormos– is the song which gave me goosebumps, but a feeling of sadness at the same time. The chorus is one easy to remember “Burn it, Burn the city of Rome” which is also a strong reference to the historical period of time mentioning Cezar as well.
Faceless metamorphosis has a bit of an oriental sound if you pay attention merely to the drums (5:20). A song which might get stuck in your mind. To be honest I can’t say that a song is bad or comment upon it with negative thoughts. I am eager to see this whole album performed live.
Sol Omnia Regit –has a whispering voice in the beginning to continue with a harsh voice later, with a much more melodic sound of the guitars and the drums played softly. Probably the best part begins at 3:09; those slowly guitar riffs combined very well with the sound of keyboards.
The last song is the one who actually gives the name of the album, with mister Daniel Neagoe (Clouds) as guest vocals. If you missed the Dordeduh-Negura Bunget sound, you may be surprised because another amazing musician is guest on this song; it features Edmond (Hupogrammos) on tulnic.
As for the lyrics, the guys stated that the main theme is magic based upon dark powers, I may add themes which refer to historical figures as you can see revealed by the artwork which is once again made by the Romanian artist, Alexandru Das (Valerinne).
To see things right after listening to this album for at least 20 times, I cannot find an actual favorite or a track which I can say “this one is the best”. All of them are great in their own way, an album which I truly recommend, an album which should be in your collection of CD’s. In my opinion, Ordinul Negru is one of few Romanian bands of which our underground metal scene can be proud of even beyond our borders.
The album was released on 30th of July via LoudRage Music.
Tracklist: 01. Approaching The Door Of Damnation
02. Killing Tristan
03. The Apocalypse Through A Hierophant’s Eye
04. Oculta Kormos
05. Elder Magik
06. Faceless Metamorphosis
07. Sol Omnia Regit
08. Faustian Nights
- Production10
- Artwork10
- Lyrics9
- Music10
