Genus Ordinis Dei (they’re allowed to have a Latin name because they’re Italian) first blipped on our radar back in 2018 when we featured them as a Band of the Day. More recently, they released “Edict” from their latest album as a video and we got some favourable comments to it on our facebook feed, so I felt obliged to give the full release a decent listen to and review.
Now there are plenty of melodic death metal bands around, and they’re usually pretty good. But there aren’t many symphonic death metal bands to pick from. Genus Ordinis Dei are one of them, and they certainly know how to throw that symphonic sound around without taking anything away from the heavier tones.
The album itself is what you would normally call a concept piece. Each song is an episode in the story of a lady called Eleanor and her persecution by the Holy Inquisition (I wasn’t expecting that…). not only do we have ten songs, we also have – or will have – ten videos being released which will connect together like a TV series. Truly a great vision from all concerned and one worth watching in a YouTube binge once “Fire”, the final (16-minute) track, drops. They’re being added to this playlist – well worth bookmarking.
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Thing is, this epic video tale will have an incredible soundtrack as the album is simply awesome. Production is superb and the overall sound from beginning to end is huge. This is a true heavy metal opera with the grit and fury of the former marrying up with the pomp and grandeur of the latter in absolute perfection. It’s not unusual to have some operatic vocals and keyboards slung around metal songs, but to this level… no.
The length of the songs, most hover around 7 minutes though there are a few shorter, allows for plenty of structure and atmosphere to be put into place. As such, it can sometimes feel a little slow, but put it into the context of the videos and it works so much better. And when it does kick in… bloody hell. The nature of the project also makes it difficult to pick individual tracks out for special mention, though I’d probably mention “Abjuration” and “Exorcism” (tracks 8 and 9) as they seemed to grab me for reasons I can’t quite describe as they’re only as good as the others. I think perhaps the build up to the climax makes “Exorcism” in particular absolutely rock.
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Glare of Deliverance sets its sights high, but it’s truly “grown-up” metal. Partnered with the visuals especially, it really sticks it to anyone who thinks that heavy metal is for angry teens and immature adults. This isn’t just a great heavy metal album, it’s a wonderful piece of music.
Glare of Deliverance is out on December 4th
Genus Ordinis Dei: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | youtube
