An Examination Of Being

Florida-based black/death metal band Order of Ennead have a lot of talent in their ranks; guitarist John Li is a brilliant shredder, while vocalist/guitarist Kevin Quirion and drummer Steve Asheim have already proven themselves as members of death metal institution Deicide. On this, the group's second album, they continue to play blasting metal full of wild solos and thundering drums (Asheim's heavily triggered, mechanistic sound is nevertheless more than sufficiently punishing), while distancing themselves from Glen Benton's impassioned but still somehow rote Satanism in the lyrical department. Quirion's songs are about spirituality as quest, an almost Buddhist/hippie world-view that's closer to Cynic than Deicide or Morbid Angel. Still, these relatively positive, introspective messages are delivered in a high-pitched rasp reminiscent of Dimmu Borgir's Shagrath, and the music behind him is as aggressive and complex as any in modern death metal. Songs like "In the Mirror" and the title track are machine gun assaults guaranteed to get any listener's head banging wildly, while moodier passages on "A Portal to Rapture" demonstrate the group's ability to slow down with no loss of impact.