Ordo Tyrannis – Vasa Iniquitatis
I have wasted 52 minutes and 37 seconds! FAIL FAIL FAIL! No redeeming factors!’ These are some of the notes I took while listening to “Vasa Iniquitatis”. Suffice it to say that I hate this album. More than I’ve hated an album in a long time. However, because a review merely stating an opinion without describing anything about the project doesn’t benefit anybody, I’ll attempt to state why I think that nobody should ever assault their ears with this sorry release. Involved in this project are Baron Drakkonian Abaddon (Michael Ford) of Black Funeral and someone known as ‘Saint ov Gravediggers’. Ford handles the instrumentation (and ‘mutations’, according to the liner notes) while ‘Saint’ is responsible for vocals, lyrics and ‘incantations’. The sound is an inadequate version of stripped-down atmospheric black industrial. Done well, black industrial exudes a perpetual sense of foreboding. Ordo Tyrannis just sounds overwrought. Samples such as ‘I was born to murder the world!’ only add to the sense that these guys are trying too hard. To make things worse, the cd sounds as if it’s mastered wrong – the bass is nearly non-existent and the drums sound miles away. The vocals, which sound alternately like an uninspired version of Mr. Doctor of Devil Doll and Ogre of Skinny Puppy, are in the forefront of the mix. With lyrics like ‘What wound festers more than your mock’d existence?’, I’d urge them to rethink that decision. But then, I’d also urge them to rethink their decision to record at all. Because if this is an indication of future releases, I plead with them to take pity on reviewers like me who actually have to sit and listen to this tripe in its entirety. – Christine Lett
FLOOD THE EARTH
Worm Gear 