Ordinul Negru "Faustian Nights" CD Slipcase

Jewel-case CD with 16 pages booklet + slipcase

Ordinul Negru is one of the longest running and hardest working extreme metal bands hailing from Romania. “Faustian Nights” is full length number eight within a time frame of twelve years making up for a pretty impressive track record. That’s not all as main man Fulmineos is also spearheading a bunch of other bands and projects making him some kind of Rogga Johansson of the Romanian black metal scene.
From his other bands I have only checked out a bit of Argus Megere as their latest album has also been released on Loud Rage Music. There are a lot of similarities between the two and one can clearly see that the ideas for both have their origin in the head of the same person. That being said Ordinul Negru is maybe the more mainstream act (in the context of underground black metal of course) of the two as there are more and shorter songs with English lyrics.
The typical tremolo picks and the pummeling blasts can be found here as well and build the basis of Ordinul Negru’s music. While each black metal band puts a lot of emphasis on building a sinister atmosphere Fulmineos has gone even a bit further compared to his peers. I would not go as far as labelling this album as atmospheric black metal as the main focus is still on the riffs and the relentless drum attacks but there are a lot of desperate and haunting harmonies dwelling in the background. Eerie themes presented by the lead guitar are always present – sometimes more subtle and in other places as leading elements defining certain parts of the song.
One issue I often have with black metal is that a lot of bands seem to think it is enough to play and look as evil as possible. This is not the case with these Romanian veterans as they perfectly know how to piece together all the elements to weave intricate yet highly enjoyable soundscapes. The listener will get hypnotized by dark and powerful themes and melodies. There is a great amount of melancholy defined by the guitar harmonies in each of the songs and by repeating some of those trademark lines in later sections the whole album gains a lot when being consumed in one go. The songs are professionally constructed and while there is a lot going on there are enough hooks and clear song structures to make the music pretty easy to get into.
The production is pretty good with all the single elements being clearly identifiable. That being said the drums do have a bit of that cardboard sound and could have used more punch in my books. This is a bit of s shame as the drum patterns are amazing and deserve some attention. Other than that the sound is fine and better then on a lot of other black metal albums. Overall “Faustian Nights” is an easy recommendation for everyone looking for a perfect mixture of atmosphere and hefty riffs.

Official promo video: 

Official promo video: 

Sample: