Album Review: Genus Ordinis Dei – The Beginning (Eclipse Records)

Epic symphonic death metal band Genus Ordinis Dei are back with their fourth studio album, The Beginning. A concept album, and four-part music video series, which tells a story of two siblings belonging to a tribe of cannibals in prehistoric times, searching for the truth about their religion, God, and the origins of mankind’s existence. The Beginning will be released on December 8th, 2023, via Eclipse Records.

It’s high time that Genus Ordinis Dei get their flowers, having proven with previous releases to be a powerhouse within the symphonic death metal world, and now, surpassing many of their peers with this new album. Continuing their impressive conceptual creative output and overarching multi-faceted media approach.

The word ‘epic’ was created to describe music like this, and Genus Ordinis Dei encapsulate the grandeur and gratifying aspects of such a word here. Showcasing twelve stunning examples of powerful, story-driven, and transcendent music. Yet, it’s important to point out that this is also an album of darkness and heaviness. Regardless of their symphonic layers, Genus Ordinis Dei are a death metal band at their core. If you’re hoping for raucous instrumentation that hits hard, and vocals that are scathing, you’re in luck as Genus Ordinis Dei have all that, and more to offer here.

Calling this album an intricate experience underplays just how deep Genus Ordinis Dei take the listener into this story. Few bands, especially from the more extreme side of things, are quite as capable of telling tales this emphatic and real. It’s a transporting listen to a world that few will be able to comprehend, but with themes that have current reliability. Even now, questions surrounding belief and mankind’s purpose resonate heavily.

Of course, while this all so important to taking as much as possible away from the album, it’s not just about the story. It’s also about the music, and Genus Ordinis Dei are on impressive form here. As heavy and hard, as epic and lavish, and as brilliantly infectious as ever, The Beginning shows off a variety of stylistic and dynamic Genus Ordinis Dei soundscapes and no single track disappoints. Yet, there are one or two are just a cut above the rest for several reasons.

A track like the sumptuous heavy groove and the dazzling symphonic magnificence of Genesis. A track like We Are the Strangers, which is thick with atmosphere, and has a chorus that just explodes. Or a track like The Dragon and the Sword that takes on a more melo-death appearance, albeit transformed by Genus Ordinis Dei’s thick and glossy coat of symphonic opulence. These are just three, from a twelve-track offering, so it’s no real surprise that the overall package is so impressive.

With each release, the buzz around Genus Ordinis Dei seems to grow, and it is now time for them to be acknowledged as one of the symphonic metal greats. The Beginning is an incredible release.

Genus Ordinis Dei – The Beginning Track Listing:

1. Aeternus
2. Changing Star
3. Genesis
4. Chant of the Water
5. The Divine Order
6. Blackstone
7. We Are the Strangers
8. Shaman
9. The Dragon and the Sword
10. For A New God
11. Chant of the Wind
12. The Fortress Without Gates

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