Fear the Invisible

Fear the Invisible is the debut album of a Russian band Ordo ad Chao. The music on it is maintained in the styles of black and death metal. After reading these sentences, you may have thought “Yeah, probably something like Behemoth”. No, it’s not. In fact, black/death metal is just the most fitting term, but this creation is actually a bit hard to be characterized by genres. It stands out with its gentle aggression, technique of playing instruments, vocals and production and it’s also a grower of the year for me. I listened to it for the first time a few months ago and at first I thought that it’s not my cup of tea, but it already piqued my interest. In the time from the first listening to reviewing, I noticed that I was coming back to this album many times and it kept growing on me. Because it has a very unique specificity and contains specific emotions, the love to it is a difficult love, but it’s definitely worth it.

The cruel riff along with the drums in the beginning of Pythonic Precipitation, already shows a part of the style that the listener is dealing with here. The music is really dark, heavy and extreme, but it’s also irritating the ears gently. Everything’s focused mostly on the atmosphere and the main part of all the songs is the guitar work, that shines very bright. In the opening song, but also in the others, not only the riffs are written creatively and mystically, but there are also hypnotizing solos. The two genres are cleverly combined, that the listener can hear both almost all the time. But, most of the riffs, the production and the vocals aren’t typical to death metal in the current form of it very much. The Black Colonel’s (known from Blackdeath) voice is most often more screeching than guttural or deep, and for me, it’s definitely a good thing. In general, the vocals are one of the best things about Fear the Invisible. They convey a lot of emotions.

At first, I didn’t expect any catchiness from this album, but I experienced it. It’s especially in the second song Eternal Sacrifice (The Paradoxes of Creation). Its riff is really memorable, leads the composition majestically and strikes in a multi-layered manner. The reason of both the uniqueness and the difficulty in reception of this material is the production. The name of the band brings to mind Mayhem’s 2007 album. There are some similarities between these two, and the production is definitely one of them. It’s something that I call “modern necrosound”. But as Mayhem decided to treat their record in a very dingy way, the sound of Fear the Invisible can be described as “muffled and clean at the same time”. It’s not very hard to realize that it’s a new recording, but it’s also far from being overproduced in any sense. It stands out in this case from many of the extreme metal records I’ve listened to this year.

This material works best as a companion of the lonely, cold and dark nights. It contains a lot of madness and thus is purifying. Probably the most mad part of it is the song Rites of the Sick. Against the Cosmic Purpose. It’s also the most progressive and multi-layered one. “I don't care about the intentions of the Universe / My Sickness is my Rite” – Colonel once again delivers intriguing lyrics in his specific style. The album is divided into complex moments and more catchy ones. Examples of the second group can be found in Reminiscence: The Throne of Black Ice. Despite the fact that the song starts suddenly after a smooth completion of the previous one, which I find ill-considered, it definitely grabs attention and it’s based on really interesting riffs. One of the most awesome things in this album are the maniacally played tirades, which always strike after “preparations” in the form of the calmer moments.

The record is ended with a “we have just begun” feeling in the song Evening Prayer. I would say that it’s a bit boring and too monotonous in the last part, but it was placed as the last one rightly. Fear the Invisible is a very complicated, long growing on you, intriguing piece of black/death metal. It evokes very specific, at the same time pleasant and painful emotions. It’s maintained in an outstanding atmosphere, mostly thanks to the production, the songwriting and the vocals. It’s a very specific journey, definitely worth taking part in it, that should be appreciated by many connoisseurs of dark underground metal.

Originally written for Tony Blackthrasher on Instagram and Facebook and The Metal Observer.

I really like the music by Russian black metal commando Blackdeath, with their most recent album “Phantasmhassgorie” having been one of my top picks of 2019. So I was glad to see that the main man behind this band has just put out another gem of an album, this time with another project called Ordo ad Chao. This one is a pretty newish outfit as it has only been formed in 2019. Wasting no time we already got the debut full length “Fear the Invisible”, and while this release shares quite a few trademarks with the work of Blackdeath there are also several nuances separating the two bands and giving each of them a justification to exist.

Opening track “Pythonic Precipitation” is kicking into full gear after starting off with some crawling and intense guitar lines. The riffs are never sacrificed for the focus on atmosphere, breaking out in thrash-ready momentum that calls back to a lot of bands who got famous while riding the second wave of black metal. Plenty of lead tremolo work scatters across the songs, adding an edge of melodicism to the music.

The sound and approach of Ordo ad Chao are firmly rooted within black metal’s raw and feral side, with plenty of interesting and discordant motifs thrown into the mix to provide some added intensity and fierceness to an already heady mix of extremity. Atmosphere alone is rarely enough to carry a full album, but used as one of the pillars of the sound it can be a dividing factor, separating an outstanding work from average to good stuff. There is also a strong death metal vibe inherent in the music, with some of the main chords providing a stoic and groovy kind of sound.

The dynamic of the album can be addicting at its best, being crushing and subtly melodic on one side and depressing and ecstatic on the other. The constant interaction between the driving and chugging main chords and the often impressive lead guitar can be breathtaking. The melodies are often sinister and haunting, but sometimes also have a more relaxed and slightly melancholic nature. The feral and growly vocals are among the best I have heard within the past few years, and while some black metal purists might prefer a higher pitched and more classic approach they perfectly fit into the overall picture.

The cover artwork is mystic and perfectly fits the music. I really like the look of the motif, as this is not your standard kind of stuff you might have seen several hundred times. The album is rounded off by a more or less flawless production. Raw and gritty, but clear and transparent at the same time. Fans of pure and original black metal are going to love the sound here. “Fear the Invisible” is among the strongest albums of the year, carrying a very dense atmosphere and some intense moments. I would recommend checking this album out at home with headphones during the dark hours to intensify the experience.