Ordo Obsidium     

Orbis Tertius
Eisenwald 2012

Beautifully raw and primitive black metal is heard from the outset of the debut album from California's Ordo Obsidium.  However this is only half of the story, literally.  So despite the blasting, mournful black metal destruction of Nequaquam Vacuum's first portion, the song's second half is traditional doom riffs spun through a stripped down raw black metal production.  It is quite a new experience to hear something akin to Warning's riffs put through Judas Iscariot's production values.  The second segment of the song is full of forlorn melodies and dismal pacing.  Into the Gates Of Madness is straight on primitive black metal.  However the black metal melodies create an epic quality to the song and the vocals are tortured rasps. Strangely twisting riffs created a sense of dementia within the framework of the song and the acoustic work brings to mind parallels with the acoustic guitar on Immortal's debut album.  The title-track is a melancholic dirge of doom riffs and a mood of utter despair.  Blasting black metal riffage flows like spraying blood during the beginning stage of Emptiness Under The Moon.  It drops into periods of catchy melody and hypnotizing riffs that form circular patterns in my mind.  The final track, By His Unflinching Hand opens with a martial beat and then trudges into a funeral paced march of doom riffs and soul-crushing, tormented vocals.  After periods of soulful melodies there are flurries of uptempo drums, but the overriding emotions here are depression and abandonment.  The acoustic guitar that finishes out the track only enhances those feelings within the listener.  Ordo Obsidium has taken raw, primitive black metal and married that style with traditional doom riffing for a unique and depressive listening experience.  Orbis Tertius is desolate and sorrowful, an album of music for the hateful and unloved.