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The Order Of Elijah formed in 2009 are a 5 piece, consisting of Shannon Low (vocals), Josh Newlon (drums), James Copley (bass), Bryan Cox and Myk Lee Fodor (guitars), and are a Christian experimental metal outfit from Joplin, Missouri, USA. The Order Of Elijah have released 2 albums to date, their debut album “Dethrone” in 2013, and this, their newest release “War At Heart” which dropped on the 8th of January 2016, via Luxor Records. The Order Of Elijah began touring the midwest and west-coast of the USA which has enabled them to develop a rather large fanbase. The Order Of Elijah have had the pleasure of sharing the stage with bands such as Emmure, For Today, Born Of Osiris, As Blood Runs Black, plus many, many more!
‘Heresy’ is the introduction to “War At Heart”… A slightly different approach to unleashing new material to what I have heard of late, but not a bad thing, may I add. The band have taken to spoken word for an intro. Of course, they have taken to it in a dark approach right enough, tweaking the vocals to make them sound dark and grooling.
Title track, ‘War At Heart’ definitely kicks it off by keeping it heavy but melodic and catchy at the same time – melodic riffs and a mixture of different vocal techniques. I feel that this track isn’t only just a good track to go on from the into, but I think it would be a good track to open a show with too.
‘Tyler Durden’, at 52 seconds in, I already have a favourite part of the entire track. I especially loved the little bass riff that sneaks in. Everything goes silent for a few seconds, then all you hear is that cheeky bass pop in. At the start of the track, I really liked the first lyric spoken “It’s only after we’ve lost everything, that we are free to do, anything.” Truly spoken words, I say.
“God’s Unwanted Children” is the first single to be released from this album. I liked this track for it’s dark humour. Intentional or not, I found the humour in it… Sarcastic dark humour relating to tough times. You either laugh or cry, right? This track is a tad different to the rest of this album, I felt. I received some hardcore vibes mixed in with deathcore… Experimental metal indeed!
‘From The Dusk’ was just beautiful! All guitar melodies, and a bit of bass in there to give it a bit more depth. Very slow, chilled and a lotta feels! A real nice way to mix up the album from it being so heavy and mind-consuming with the lyrical content! Anyone who knows me well, or who has read some of my previous reviews know how much i dig tracks like this.
‘From The Dusk’ was a solid entrance into ‘From The Dawn’. Still with a keep-calm approach in the beginning of this one, and gradually escalates into quite a hardcore sounding track once again, with the exception of some heavy beat-downs.
There’s a lot of deathcore vibes from ‘All American Plague’. Very bouncy riffs and beats. This would be a real fun one to experience at a show. Aside from it being quite bouncy, I liked the electronic effects used on the vocals. I know a lot of bands use this technique, but not all manage to work it well. The Order Of Elijah do!
All I need to say about Jennifer McKenzie vs The Vampire Slayer’ is that the breakdown around 50 seconds in was pretty tight! Heavy one, this one!
‘Haunted’ is fast paced with extreme talent. Blast beats on the drums tie everything together. Such a tight track! I felt some melodic hardcore vibes at some points of this track, which was definitely a change of pace. They lasted seconds, but I felt them!
‘The Art Of Forgiveness’ is my favourite track here. Slowed down melodic riffs at the start gradually build up with the drums and vocals, then suddenly, it all drops and it’s heavy as balls!
And finally, the last track, ‘Beautiful”. Beat-down from the start, quite a slow track considering, it then progresses into this beautiful (sic), melodically written, guitar solo and riffs towards the end, before returning to a beat-down style in the dying seconds of the track. Good mix-up end on.
The Order Of Elijah somewhat made me think if Suicide Silence and Emmure were to have a child, The Order Of Elijah is what their baby would be like…
While listening to “War At Heart” I experienced a tonne of different guitar melodies and riffs, a varied amount of vocal techniques, from spoken word to extreme highs and downright lows, all tied together with heavy (and sometimes quite cheeky) bass riffs and technical drum patterns. All-in-all, the band have successfully tied everything together very, very tightly.
Anyone who is a fan of Christian based experimental metal/deathcore then The Order Of Elijah are the band for you!
Track Listing:
1. Heresy
2. War At Heart
3. Tyler Durden
4. God’s Unwanted Children
5. From The Dusk
6. From The Dawn
7. All American Plague
8. Jennifer McKenzie vs The Vampire Slayer
9. Haunted
10. The Art Of Forgiveness
11. Beautiful.