The shadowy Ordo Vampyr Orientis evade expectations and definitions. Like another mysterious American black metal label Wergild, Ordo Vampyr Orientis have no social media and have avoided all attempts to investigate them. They reroute all focus to their music, which ranges from Waltzing symphonic black metal to hypnotic raw black metal and, now, lovesick warlock black metal with Befouled Malediction, whose track “Ritual” we’re premiering today before their debut, Desperate Necromancy, releases at the end of October.
Lovesick is, of course, downplaying the situation on Desperate Necromancy. As the title indicates, the record tells the story of a warlock who haphazardly learns necromancy to bring his loved one back from the dead, only to discover that the resurrection wasn’t without its drawbacks. It’s a classic monkey’s paw tale of which “Ritual” is the inciting action. Much like necromancy itself, the track is part witchcraft and part science. It’s quietly refined, though not to a degree that the raw and tragic aspects are overlooked. The melodies mirror the warlock’s adrenaline as he’s on the verge of bringing his love back to life, with the track’s middle section, in which the percussion nearly dissipates, marking his trepidation. Just by following the structure on “Ritual,” you can deduce which step of the process the warlock is undertaking and his reactions to it. It’s effective storytelling in black metal, putting the genre’s attributes to narrative work.
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Desperate Necromancy releases October 30 on Ampwall and Bandcamp. It will be available on vinyl on November 13 via Ixiol Productions and Dawnbreed Records.

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