Review: Symphony of Heaven – Ordo Aurum Archeia
Symphony of Heaven – Ordo Aurum Archeia
(Return to Dust Promotions)
The long –awaited third album from Symphony of Heaven shows the band consistently stretching themselves to new heights. One thing listeners will notice right out of the hatch this time is just how immaculate the production is. Sure, this is still blackened death metal, but the production is crisp and clear. Each instrument can be heard, and your ears will definitely want to hear this.
After a short instrumental, the band kicks into “Archeia,” a brutal track that pulverizes with speedy riffs, and yet is not without melodic moments. And I daresay that I can actually understand some of the vocals—a rarity in this style of metal! “With Sword and Spear” draws on some of the symphonic ambience of the opening track and then busts into another upbeat track. This one almost feels like prog/power metal at times but still with Logan Thompson’s signature growl.
Next up is “The Hunter,” which opens with a cinematic spoken intro, followed by some really nice riffing—melodic, yet bleak. The riffing is in a slightly more classic black metal style. “Serenity’s Embrace” is another progressive track. It’s entirely instrumental and features a lengthy, melodic guitar solo.
“Away with the Atheists” opens with a clean, melodic guitar riff accompanied by some chunky rhythmic undertones and Mason Beard’s steady blasting on the drums. Parts of this song remind me of 2000s Dismember or Dissection. Points of reference in the Christian realm might be Antestor’s “Omens” albums or some of A Hill to Die Upon’s material. “Portent of Flame” picks up the pace again, thrashing and blasting through a lengthy 6-minute track. This song really shows what the band is good at—seamlessly blending the brutality of death metal and the bleakness of black metal, yet underpinning it all with a sense of melodic songcraft. In fact, the melodic outro reminds me a little of the lengthy closing riff on Trouble’s classic “All is Forgiven.”
“In Anger’s Midst” is probably the most straight-forward track so far, except that the brutally heavy riff is accompanied by symphonic keyboards and choir voices. It’s a strangely effective technique. Closing out the album is “Nomad,” a cover from the Brazilian metal band Sepultura. As such, it has a different feel from the rest of the album, having more of a thrash feel with hints of death metal.
What we have here is a top-quality extreme metal band who is at the top of their game. Symphony of Heaven is *almost* without peer in this style and at this level of quality. There are few bands in the Christian scene playing at this level of quality and in this style.
For ordering, downloading, or streaming: ORDO AURUM ARCHEIA | Symphony of Heaven
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