Saturday 20 April 2013

WARDENCLYFFE - Ordo Ab Chao [Demo]




I suppose it goes without saying but I am an avid music lover. I’m sure I am not alone in stating that one of the greatest moments for an Metal obsessed music connoisseur is to feast upon the first ever demo from a new band. Well that is what I have here and let me tell you it fills my heart and soul with joy to tell you it is an absolute stunner! Hailing from Sweden comes a Doom/Death Metal trio that really gets my blood pumping!  Wardenclyffe are a band to be excited about, very excited and their debut three track demo entitled ‘Ordo Ab Chao’ has the ability to bewitch and ensnare your mind within the first few moments of opening track ‘Orcadian Dream’!



Ah yes ‘Orcadian Dream’! If awards were given for the best opening moments of a release this one would be a real contender. A rumble of static and feedback greets you before eerie cold guitar tones rise slowly from the roaring fire of reberb. It is pure unadulterated Doom atmosphere at its finest and once complete leads into a slow, methodical and enthralling Death/Doom sound. With crushing intent Wardenclyffe set about their business in this opening track which tells a tale of Gomorrah, one of the cities in the Old Testament who had fire and brimstone reigned down upon it as punishment for man’s sin! Vocally Jacob Nordangard shares a striking resemblance with Nevermore singer Warrel Dane (In vocal style I mean) but it’s his lyrics that are so captivating…

“In the dreams of tomorrow lies the grief of Gomorrah, walk the path of destruction, the fall. Too few that heeds the warning, the fate for all is dawning, feel the nails got hammered through our hands”

Equally ‘Behind the Shadow of the Goat’ is fast to work its magic upon you with its quicker pace, darker connotations and its heavily occult moods! Again Wardenclyffe’s lyrical prowess is on show for all to hear and within moments you shall once more be singing along!

“Watch the flames consume the notion, walk the stairs to deep delusion, I now seek the true devotion, break the spell of the grand illusion”



As a grand finale you can’t go far wrong with the sluggish and monolithic ‘Macroshift’ which once more sees the band dragging the depths to bring forth monstrous and savage riffs, dark fearsome atmospheres and overall a tremendous sense of oppression in the form of cavernous tones! Wardenclyffe’s sound to date is of a demo band, this is not some polished and overly mastered piece of music that is to be mass produced and shrink wrapped for the masses, oh no, this is a dirty piece of Swedish Doom and the demo sound works wonders for the aura that it produces. I am certain that the time will come for Wardenclyffe to make the polished album that they deserve to make, but for now revel with me in the squalor if this filthy demo and its harrowing sound!

Luke Hayhurst [8.5/10]

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