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Order from Chaos > Plateau of Invincibility > Reviews
Order from Chaos - Plateau of Invincibility

Underground US Death Metal At It's Finest - 90%

brocashelm, April 27th, 2006

Hailing from the Midwest, the underground death metal phalanx known as Order From Chaos would enjoy not only secretive praise during their existence, but outright worship in wake of their demise. The reasons for this are legion, beginning with the band’s very bleak, very serious and philosophic lyrical outlook, which harnessed social Darwinism through quasi-religious poetry. Sound heady? Well it is, but bassist/vocalist and part-time writer of socio-political tracts Peter Helmkamp had his ducks in a row intellectually speaking, and his lyrics inspire as much informed agreement as derision, given the provocative nature of his ideas. Also the band’s music drew from elder death metal influences (Sodom being a big one) but didn’t sound either primitive or too much like the typical blast beat gore material so prevalent in the scene at the time.


Their songs tended to be long and well formed, and their graphics obtuse and esoteric. Thus, you have the ingredients for an unusual, yet powerful and unique state of death meal affairs. The release we discuss here is basically a lengthy EP that brings together two versions of the titanic title song, an epic of morbid metallic song-craft. Helmkamp, shrieking vocals work beautifully along Chuck Keller’s relentless guitar churning and otherworldly noise making. Also in attendance are reverent cover versions of Venom, Sodom and oldies. Sure it’s on the short side, but it’s also very (bitter) sweet, offering us a look at what the “other” death metal bands were doing while scene stars like Sepultura, Obituary and Cannibal Corpse grabbed headlines.