When I first started this reviewing gig, one of the first albums from an ‘unknown’ act I fell in love with was the 2002 debut Revealing Damnation from Council of The Fallen, released on Martyr Music Group. After staying in touch with founding member Kevin Quiron, and reviewing the follow up, 2004’s equally impressive Dechipering the Soul, Quiron and co., after demo-ing some new material, disappeared somewhat. That’s until he resurfaced recently with a new band, a new moniker and a brand new album. Under the moniker Order of Ennead and featuring Deicide super drummer Steve Asheim, Order of Ennead’s self titled debut appears to be a musical continuation of Council of the Fallen’s blistering black/death metal, but rather than assume it was simply a Council of the Fallen part 2, I got it straight from the horses mouth, the horse being Kevin Quiron….

First off, lets get this sorted out- is Order of Ennead a continuation of Council of the Fallen or a separate, new entity that should not be considered Council of the Fallen pt 2? Stylistically they do sound similar.

It’s a continuation for me personally. I wrote all but two of the Council of the Fallen songs and lyrics and I wrote all of the Order of Ennead songs and lyrics. The style is the same for that reason, minus the death metal vocals. Our bass player, Scott Patrick, played a couple shows and recorded a three song EP under the Council of the Fallen name. Those songs turned into Order of Ennead songs. When we started jamming with Steve we were going to keep the name, but it became its own thing so we changed the name looking for more stability and touring.

What exactly is the Order of Ennead?-It sounds very deep and mysterious.

The Great Ennead is part of a creation myth. They are the nine beings that gave man life, knowledge and civilization. It does have that mysterious “what is it” mystique to it. There is plenty of info on-line that people can look up. It fits into the entire lyrical concept that I created with Council of the Fallen and carried over to Order of Ennead. The question of existence and discovery of oneself.

As with your Council of the Fallen days, when you had Tim Yeung and Derek Roddy drum for you, you’ve got yet another all star drummer to help out , this time Deicide’s Steve Asheim. How did that come about?

I moved to Florida and still had a hard time finding a drummer. We did get someone to do an EP with us, but drummers are a funny bunch of people. I took off about 9 months after that and ran into my bass player at a Cradle of Filth show. He told me Steve was interested in jamming and I was like “Yeah, sure he is.” Well it ended up that was interested. We got together Sept 2007 and one year later we are signed to Earache, recorded at Audio Hammer Studios and looking for tours. Our bass player, Scott, is the talker and gets things going.

Having worked with three amazing drummers, what are the similarities and differences in style and personality between all three?

All three are great drummers in their own way. Derek is a great player and I guess just got tired of playing metal. Tim prefers to wear mesh shirts and look for a party. Steve is very dedicated and wants to get the music out there. I don’t know why I’ve been so lucky to get these drummers, but Steve is the best fit and has been very helpful in the process of song structure and wisdom.

Considering the label issues you had with Council of the Fallen, how nice is it to land feet first at Earache for the debut? Did Steve have a hand in getting signed to Earache considering Deicide is signed there?

Yes. Earache has a history of putting out other projects from their bands. We aren’t a “project” band though. We plan on being a full time touring band. It’s nice to be on Earache who has a history of being a front runner in the scene. They seem truly interested in the album and want to push it.

How does having such a skilled drummer like Ashiem do to your song writing process?

I still write songs the same. I’ll bring an idea to practice and sometimes we’ll arrange things differently or extend a part due to a drum arrangement Steve has come up with. He is more involved in the arrangement then the other drummers I’ve worked with in the past. It works out well. We have a good system going right now and the second album is actually written already in pre-production format.

Are you the primary song-writer for Order of Ennead or do all four members contribute?

I write the riffs and lyrics. Steve will write the drums, drummers never get enough credit for writing the fills and drum parts, and help in the arrangements. Scott will come up with his unique bass fills. John Li will write his solos with a little guidance. Steve has given me some lyrics for the second album that I’ll fit into a song also. So that will be interesting.

Where did you find guitarist John Li? His leads add something to the typical black/death sound?

That would be Scott’s department again. John is a student of Ralph Santolla. He’s only 19 and going to make a name for himself one of these days. Having such a melodic solo sound to more black metal riffs is a little different, but sounds totally natural to me. John Li is in college though and we aren’t sure how much he’ll be available for touring. We’ll be using Jack Owen for most of the touring. He is a great guitarist and we’ve already played four shows with him. He’ll be handling most of the solos and I’ll take care of a couple.

Lyrically, Order of Ennead seem a bit more atypical than your usual black/death metal affair, more introspective and personal (i.e. “As Long As I Have Myself I Am Not Alone” and “Introspection And The Loss Of Denial”)-what was the aim? Going against the grain lyrically?

I’ve always touched on those topics. In Council of the Fallen I wrote “Longing for Clarity” and “Acceptance in Silence”. With Order of Ennead, it’s just more so. Black metal tends to be about Satan and death metal about the grotesque. That’s not me. You should write about what you know and I know about myself and want to know more about the human journey. The best lyrical description of the band is “Put life in perspective, Adjust the way you live, Seek the way of balance, Sever all negatives”. My favorite lyricist would be Warren Dane of Nevermore.

You recently filled in for Ralph Santolla for some Deicide live dates, how is it playing for such a legendary act and front man? Is this a short term or long term arrangement?

I don’ believe they will be working with Ralph anymore, but never say never. I’ve played five dates with them and just got back from Italy yesterday. I’m still trying to get up to date with football and baseball scores. Glen was nice enough to let Order of Ennead open three of the four dates over there. Playing with them is great. I’ve been a fan since 1990 so moving down here and jamming with them is rather surreal. It’s totally up to those guys when it comes to Deicide. I don’t know if I’ll just be touring, or on albums or help writing. I’ll play with them for as long as they want me too.

We’ve been in contact for a few years now, and I remember how frustrated you were during the Council of the Fallen days with labels and rotating lineups-what kept you going all this time and how satisfying is it to have something going again?

Just the wanting to do this and create music. It gives my life a sense of purpose and something constructive to do. Dealing with the business side of music is still an annoyance, but its part of the package. The goal is to have more positives then negatives. It feels great to have so many doors opening for the band and myself as a musician. I appreciate your support throughout the years also.

What kind of tour schedule can we expect? With 2 of you in Deicide is it pretty much opening up for Deicide or will Order of Ennead embark on their own tour?

Well if Jack Owen is going to be filling Johns Li’s spot with Order of Ennead also then that’s three. If there is a Deicide tour that we can play then we will, but we plan on being our own entity. Deicide seems to be content with shorter tours and Order of Ennead doesn’t mind a month long trek or longer. Deicide is going to Mexico in October and the Order of Ennead CD will be released at the end of that month. Deicide is also hitting Europe in January and there is talk of a US tour in Feb ‘09. If Order of Ennead can play some of those then great, but there is a lot of time to fill with Ennead touring. We just need to get some tours booked. Thanks for the support.

http://www.myspace.com/orderofennead