THE ORDER OF APOLLYON – The Sword and the Dagger

The Order of Apollyon – The Sword and the Dagger (2015, Listenable Records)

The genre of death metal has been saturated for years with hundred of bands releasing hundreds of records every year. Honestly, it is not my usual cup of tea except for obvious acts like Nile, Cryptopsy, Possessed, Suffocation, and Dying Fetus. Other than that, I have struggled with my allegiance with the genre.

I was leaded into The Order of Apollyon because of the presence of two members from Temple of Baal (S.K. aka Skvm on the drums and S.R. aka Saroth on the guitar) in the band and my discovery of their latest effort Mysterium. Also I’m discovering a plethora of French based bands lately and you’ll be able to read much more reviews of albums coming from this part of the world.

The Sword and the Dagger is an intense offering of death metal that is assaulting and brutalizing everything it touches. The production is nicely done and keeps the genre in a great and satisfying format. However, it is an album that seems a bit long and many songs are repetitive and there is obviously some filling after the first half of the album. The talent, the songwriting, and the execution are not the problem as it is for the editing of the record that could have chopped into the spare meat and made this good record a great record.

Overall, The Sword and the Dagger is a good record that has many moments of grandeur despite its lack of efficient editing. Maybe a little note for a future record but I hope The Order of Apollyon continue to make music because they have something that few bands of the genre don’t have : a strong and unique sound.

7.4