ORDER OF THE EBON HAND - GREECE

ORDER OF THE EBON HAND - VII : THE CHARIOT - SATANATH  
Order Of The Ebon Hand is back after 14 years without a full release with three recent new members that include a keyboard player. The opening Deadnaught is mid-paced and doesn't really get going. The keyboards appear a few times in the background to perhaps foreshadow the upcoming songs. Mopes (The Night's Mare) is up next, is the shortest song at just over three and half a minutes and a speedy black metal makes its first appearance. Merkaal screams louder too but there is a bit of piano to interrupt it all. Wings starts with impressive though hardly original black metal blasting and riffing and keeps its pace throughout. Sabnock features Sakis Tolis of Rotting Christ on guest vocals and quickly picks up where Wings left off. Early Marduk is one possible point of reference when these Greeks are at their best. Knight Of Swords starts ballad like then standard riffs re-appear, they don't scream originality but don't disappoint either. Aianas features a slightly different sort of singing, almost like a person in agony and this is confirmed with the narrator questioning his fate when all the gods are his enemies and the dismay in the disability to stop his suffering. A short mid-paced section adds variation to go with the downtrodden theme. Bael returns to the speedy direct riffs with the drums keeping up with the pace. The Slow Death Walk is indeed as it is says. A slow march to start that features the most synthesizers of VII: The Chariot. It remains dominated by the aforementioned instrument before and after speeding up somewhat. The song doesn't leave all black metal sounds behind and provides a good dose of screams and riffs too. The cover art features a black horse on the left and a white horse on the right. – Anna Tergel