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Order from Chaos > Dawn Bringer > Reviews
Order from Chaos - Dawn Bringer

One Of The Midwest's Finest Death Metal Bands - 85%

brocashelm, April 28th, 2006

The underground nature of this band’s releases means that it’s only now that through reissues and rediscoveries, some of their finer work is becoming somewhat readily available. Much of what I said about the Plateau Of Invincibility EP is true here, although this time there’s far more original OFC material to chew on. And although opener “Labyrinthine Whispers” features a three minute occult noise intro, things soon get pumping in the band’s ritualistic approach to early eighties death metal influences.


As I’ve mentioned before, Pete Helmkamp (bassist and philosopher) and guitarist Chuck Keller were genuine students of the religious and philosophic, and their lyrics and approach to metal is similarly scholarly in a lyrical sense, if remarkably savage musically. There’s only hint of a post-Morbid Angel influence here, but on the whole OFC worked from the genetic material left behind by Sodom, Kreator and Possessed, eschewing blast beats in favor of pounding riffs and deliberate structures. In fact, things slow down enough for a cover version of Voivod’s seminal “War And Pain,” but with the epic “Tenebrae,” we’re back into typically shadowy OFC territory.


The sound is raw, like a slightly elevated demo tape, a fearsome brew that only assists this material’s unique flavor. For those in the crowd who are currently enjoying death metal along the lines of Nile, Vader or Vital Remains (no disrespect intended here, I love these bands), OFC’s intense anti-conformist ways might be a tad rough on your ears. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t and don’t deserve serious consideration. And through the magic of reissues, you just might get to hear ‘em!