Symphony Of Heaven is a Christian melodic black/death metal band from Indiana, that used to be on Rottweiler Records. But with their 3rd album has forged out alone like… that one guy…. that went … out to the wilderness? In the bible maybe? I’m trying here, that theology isn’t really my jam.

What IS my jam though is Ordo Aurum Archei, (a concept album based on a fictional ancient secret order called ‘The Golden Order of the Almighty’) as it’s a downright enjoyable album of crunchy melodic black/death metal with lots of epic keyboards.

If you have read this site for any amount of time, you know that, much to the chagrin of many, I am always willing to give the Lord’s metal a fair shake. Recently I have enjoyed bands like Forsaken Eternity,  (Un)Worthy or Voluntary Mortification, and old-school Christian bands like The Showdown, Earth From Above, A Hill To Die Upon, With Blood Comes Comes Cleansing, Sleeping Giant, Kingston Falls, A Plea For Purging, War of Ages, Woe of Tyrants and such. But with Ordo Aurum Archei, Symphony Of Heaven have jumped to the top of the list of Christian bands I really dig, especially of late. 

I really like this album.  The self-made, crunchy production, with a mix from Kevin Butler (Hinayana, Whore Of Bethlehem), is top-notch, vocalist (and guitarist/orchestral composer) Pathos has a nice deep powerful growl (and some spoken words to carry the narrative along), and his keyboards are suitably epic and uplifting. 

The music is somewhere between the first The Showdown album,  latter Edge of Sanity, Hypocrisy, and Dimmu Borgir, and to these ears some Garden of Shadows, but everything has an expected sense of Christian grace and angelic elegance, mostly delivered by the brass/organ keyboards. 

“Legendarium” sets the tone right away with a soaring, triumphant intro before “Archeia” delivers a galloping,  melodic, anthemic opener before “With Sword and Spear” mixes in a moody, emotional mid-paced chorus to the melodic canter, that’s a super enjoyable track. 

“The Hunter” is a mid-paced number that recalls Edge of Sanity‘s softer later stylings, while “Serenity’s Embrace” is a slower, instrumental number, it makes for a mid-album lull, but “Away With the Atheists” brings back a more urgently melodic pace, again laced with excellent keys and gruff vocals. 

The album’s back end features the album’s standout in “A Portent of Flame” which has a gorgeous, triumphant chorus and dramatic brass-laden breakdown, and “In Anger’s Midst”, a stern, bruising bonus track that’s a redone track from the band’s 2017 A Season of Death debut.  There’s also a cover of Sepultura’s “Nomad”, a bold choice for a Christian metal band when there are for sure more predictable options, but the gruff, raw groovy delivery works, and is a nice change up from the rest of the album’s more graceful, keyboard drenched style.

Ordo Aurum Archei is one of the most enjoyable Christian metal albums I’ve heard over the last few years

[Visit the band's website]

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