Witness the return of The Arcane Order.
After five years under the name Scavenger between 2000 and 2005, the Danish band changed their name to sign at Metal Blade Records, where they released their debut album.
In 2023, Flemming C. Lund (guitar, Temple of Scorn, ex-Autumn Leaves), Kasper Kirkegaard (guitar, HateSphere, ex-Submission), Bastian Thusgaard (drums, Soilwork, Dawn of Demise), Kim Song Sternkopf (vocals, Møl) and Anders Frodo S. Mikkelsen (bass, Death Comes Pale, Wrath of Belial) announce their signing to Black Lion Records, as well as the release of Distortions From Cosmogony, their fourth album.
Distortions From Cosmogony, the first and eponymous track, sets up some soaring, cosmic tones, leading into Cry of Olympus, a massive composition linking Melodic Death/Thrash basis with impressive Black/Death sounds, while letting bestial howls blend into the mass. Violent influences blend easily with ominous ambient samples, strengthening the sound’s raw power, which fades away to let A Blinding Trust In Chosen Kings crush us at full speed, only letting the band’s most aggressive roots express themselves between two more melodic parts. The band lets dissonance reign over this long track’s catchy moshparts, then Starvations for Elysium returns to raw rage to accompany its music’s more majestic elements, reinforcing the contrast developed on the previous track again. There’s also more vocal diversity, with Black Metal influences taking center stage before Favors For Significance offers us a brief moment of respite, before finally crushing us with oppressive haunting tones. Leads add this heady sound a theatrical dimension, then the band focuses on a massive rhythm with The First Deceiver, an extremely aggressive track drawing on uncompromising Brutal Death to complete its wide panel of crushing sounds which slow down to accentuate this oppressive rhythm. Empedocles’ Dream follows with a soothing, ethereal and melodic approach, then the band gradually returns to violence on the modern but disturbing Ideals Of Wretched Kingdoms, which lets a few cybernetic keyboards lead us into its dark, disquieting power. The musicians let us navigate between all their influences while adding piercing melodies to a basis which meticulously advances to Children Of Erebos, where they unleash their most aggressive elements in each style they weave together. The coldest melodies ride a furious blast before letting martial parts lead us to Wings Of Duality, a final long composition where the band will do everything they can to blend all their roots to add the catchy riffs an impressive visceral dimension.
Although all musicians come from different worlds, The Arcane Order allows them to unite around a massive majestic sound. The compositions presented on Distortions From Cosmogony are generally long, but they take full advantage of all the band’s influences to make them exciting.
90/100