Formed in 2013, The Order
Although this debut outing offers a diverse range of material, all of it has a musty, dusty, just-dug-up whiff about it that will please trad doom hardliners. Perhaps predictably, then, much of it moves at a tectonic pace, the leaden plod of numbers such as the title track, Promises Made To The Earth and The Noctuus recalling the early days of Candlemass, Cathedral and Saint Vitus. The latter tune in particular is eerily effective at summoning the sense of creeping dread that Vitus create so effortlessly. More uptempo pieces such as The Black Wings A Demon and Morning Sun (Satanas) sometimes threaten to tip over into stoner territory, but the band hold back. Throw in folky acoustics, spoken word and a pinch of prog, and it’s a rousing if routine graveyard romp.
Via Napalm
