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neofolk

Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio * Apocalips (cd 2006 cold meat industry)

I wasn’t sure if I had to get this album. ORE is good, but their albums are usually quite the same. Also the songs from the band’s Myspace site weren’t too promising: more ORE. I am glad that I got to hear the album afterall though! “Apocalips” is more poppy, more militant, more bombastic and more industrial. More trendy I might say, but these elements that were already part of the sound, but which are now enlarged, surely did good. I particularly like the more industrial/noisy edges in a couple of songs. The sound is still very ORE, but a bit different, as if the band reinvented itself. Better? Hmmm, “Apocalips” is surely one of the better albums, but the best maybe not. Still an album that both ORE fans and lovers of a more military pop sound should get their hands on.

Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio / Spiritual Front * Satyriasis (cd 2005 cold meat industry)

On first sight these are not the first bands that I think about for releasing a split cd. On second hand, why not? Both bands make their own style of ‘neofolk’ (by lack of a better word), like ‘musical jokes’, make repetitive music and have something with sex. So the two bands decided to make a split cd. “Satyriasis” is only 35 minutes, the first and the last tracks are cooperations between the bands, the rest are tracks by the two bands alone. Not all new, but the styles of the bands go well together and this cd is certainly very enjoyable.

Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio * Cocktails, Carnage Crucifixion and Pornography, Love Will Change The World? (cd 2003 cold meat industry)

I can’t follow it (but then again, I’m probably not on the internet enough). Wasn’t ORE supposed to end after a luxerous box with 7″‘s that still hasn’t been released? Probably not, because this seems like a normal cd to me. Just for the better then and on to the music.
“C.C.C.P.” is an ORE cd, nothing more nothing less. Very nice neofolkish songs alternated with more bombastic tracks. Everything very repetative but well-done. Of course sexual influences and lyrics. A new element are seemingly real instruments (cello, flute) and of course the fact that the cd comes in a digipack. Anyway, what can I say? It’s good, not as bombastic as the Love And Wars, but still very nice.

Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio * Make Love, And War – the wedlock of equilibrium (cd 2001 cold meat industry)

A mirror cd to the previous “Make Love, And War – the wedlock of roses” that was released a few months back. “The Wedlock Of Equilibrium” has a similar lay-out, length (38 minutes) and musical style, but the latter with a bit more drumming and acoustic guitars. This cd is fairly tranquil and in my opinion not as good as the previous cd, but still fairly nice. The intro and outro are the same and both cds are together also available as a double lp with the title “Make Love, And War – the wedlock of roses & equilibrium” which comes in a limited edition of course.

Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio * Make Love And War (A Wedlock Of Roses) (cd 2000 cold meat industry)

Finally I have it, the new Ordo. As most of you know there have been quite some problems with this release. First Chelsea left the band bisecting the former duo. Chelsea is replaced by another female counterpart in the form of Rosemary, but she doesn’t do any vocals on this cd. Later the cd was withdrawn for reasons I still don’t know, but fortunately Ordo did perform on the Eurorock festival in Belgium last summer and also played new songs. This proved that the withdrawal was more a postphonement than a real withdrawal. And after a long wait, half way november was the time, at last.
After a funny but rather long intro a couple of totally brilliant tracks can be heard. Regarding the style Ordo didn’t change very much. The music is still quite simple, repetative and with spoken vocals. In most cases I am no fond of repetative music, but somehow Ordo manages to turn this fact into a grand benefit. You can hear the usual soft industrial and neo-folk songs with Tomas well known vocals. The cd closes off with a rather long outro and overall the cd is too short. The 35 minutes of music that we get is magnificent though.

Orchis * Mandragora (cd 1999 trinity)

This is the third cd of Orchis. If I’m informed correctly, this band contains the female half of the notorious band The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud. Since the male half of this band makes very industrial music of his own under the name Der Blutharsch, people who know TMLHBAC won’t be surprised that this is pretty folky. As a matter of fact, this is a schoolexample of what we call “neo-folk”. Tranquil music with acoustic guitars and (what is somewhat original) female vocals. Even though Orchis sure have a style of their own, this isn’t exceptionally good. It’s just another nice neo-folk cd, like their previous two.
Trinity Records * Ahornweg 19 * 64807 Dieburg * Germany

Of The Wand And The Moon * Sonnenheim (cd 2006 heidhrunar myrkrunar)

However I like the music of this Danish band, I wasn’t planning on buying this new album. The music is nice, but rather monotous and always the same. Slow and tranquil, minimalistic neofolk. Very nice, but I don’t need to have each and every release of the band (however sometimes some stranger experiments can be heard). The same goes for “Sonnenheim”. It is again a nice album, but nothing new. If you want a good neofolk album, you can buy any album of OTWATM, but you don’t have to buy them all if you asked me.

Of The Wand And The Moon * Hail Hail Hail (7” 2005 heiðrunar/myrkrunar)

I do like OTWATM, but I don’t listen to his music too much, neither do I buy all of his music. Because there haven’t been too many OTWATM releases recently and because I have something with 7”s, I decided to get me one of the 666 copies of “Hail Hail Hail” which was released by Larsoon himself. One side has something ambient, the other more experimental ‘neofolk’. An alright 7”.

Of The Wand And The Moon * Emptiness (cd 2001 prophecy productions)

The first time that I heard of this band, was when I read a review of their debut cd in a metalmagazine. This debut was released by a metallabel (Voices Of Wonder), but pretty quickly Of The Wand was brought into the neo-folk scene like a hero. I still don’t know if this was (supposed to be) a familiar name in that scene or not back then, but Of The Wand sure was a quickly rising star. The debut cd is a very nice neo-folk cd with some very sad songs and very peculiar whispered vocals.
Later there was a 10″ on the neo-folk cultlabel Eis & Licht Tonträger from Germany. This 10″ proved that Kim Larsson isn’t afraid of some healthy experimentation. This same urge seemed to radiate from songs that went around over the internet, so I was quite curious about this cd.
Again it is released on a metallabel, but one that is quite close to the neo-folk scene. What was most striking when I put on this cd, is that it contains plain neo-folk, nothing too special, this time with normal vocals and no longer with the beautiful violins. Inspite of two long and some shorter experimental tracks, this is just another neo-folk cd in my ears. Nice, but nothing special.

Of The Wand And The Moon * Midnight Will (10″ 2000 eis & licht tonträger)

The first time I heard of this band, was when they released their debut cd. I think this 10″ came after that and there is also a 7″ on Hau Ruck! Even though the cd was very melancholic and atmosperheric, this 10″ is quite different in style. “Midnight Will” opens with a quite typical neo-folk song and the second track is a not too good soundscape. Face B opens with a ‘guitar-scapes’ track with drumming, but also this track is not too good. The second track of face B is quite good and also is the last song. Both are neo-folk songs, but the second track is slightly uptempo and the last one is slower again. Never does OTWATM sound as melancholic as there wonderfull cd. A new direction of the band?