Order From Chaos LP/CD Out Now

OUT NOW!

Order From Chaos “Stillbirth Machine” LP/CD
ANTI-GOTH 097
12″ LP, Gatefold jacket, 2 sided A2 poster

(Description by J. Campbell)
“Stillbirth Machine” has long been heralded by many as the greatest OFC release. So highly regarded is it that some have referred to it as the finest work of extreme metal ever produced. Irrespective of such sweeping assertions, no convincing argument could be made which would deny this album a place alongside other classic metal albums of the highest order. After releasing a series of demos and the infamous “Will to Power” EP, OFC unveiled their first full-length album in 1993 on Decapitated Records amid a storm of controversy regarding the legitimacy of its alternate release on the notorious Wild Rags label. Now, 15 years later, the legacy of this album has been well-established and NWN! is proud to release the definitive vinyl version of “Stillbirth Machine” produced with the full permission, cooperation, and collective input of each of the members of OFC. To say that this album is flawless, could possibly be considered an understatement. It is a perfect unification of control and chaos, devastation and superiority. “Stillbirth Machine” opens with a long intro that, on any other album, one might be tempted to skip. Here, however, this passage merely cultivates a neurotic tension in anticipation of the onslaught that ensues when Chuck Keller’s guitar pierces the aural fabric during the initial seconds of “The Edge of Forever” before the frenetic drumming of Mike Miller and the sadistic and wrathful vocals and bass playing of Pete Helmkamp lead the listener into the depths of war. Throughout the remainder of “Stillbirth Machine”, OFC sustain an energy level unrivaled by nearly any other album. Their style, an amalgamation of elements of black, death, and thrash metal, is among the most distinctive and powerful musical concoctions ever produced. Featuring such vessels of annihilation as ‘Power Elite’, ‘Iconoclasm Conquest’, and ‘Blood and Thunder’, “Stillbirth Machine” set a standard that has yet to be attained by any other album.

Order From Chaos “Dawn Bringer” LP/CD
ANTI-GOTH 690
12″ LP, Gatefold jacket, 2 sided A2 poster

(Description by J. Campbell)
After three-minutes of abstract cacophony; swirling guitar noise; organ swells, twisted and reversed; monotone spoken word invocation, and the intermittent sound of the full band fading in and out of the mix, the pummeling opening barrage of “Labyrinthine Whispers” erupts at full speed—the trio of guitarist Chuck Keller, drummer Mike Miller, and bassist/vocalist Pete Helmkamp coalescing into a focused vortex of violence. Helmkamp’s commanding voice rises above the fray: “Oft spoken of only in whispers/The true embodiment is enshrined/Its roots reach down through slumbered soils/Swift branches scrape the skies.” And so begins “Dawn Bringer,” the second of three pre-planned albums by Kansas City, Missouri black death legends Order From Chaos. Originally planned as a 12” MLP on the Dutch label Shivadarshana Records, the label insisted on adding more material and tacked on two live tracks—known as the “Pain Lengthens Time” EP, though it was never independently released—and a cover of Voivod’s “War and Pain” taken from the “Jericho Trumpet” EP. By the time it came out, in 1995, the label ditched the vinyl edition and only issued it on CD. Perhaps due to the comparatively limited nature of the original release, “Dawn Bringer” has sometimes been overshadowed by the band’s other full-lengths, but it is a masterful album nonetheless. Order From Chaos is the sort of band that can’t be fully understood through examination of any single element of their output; one must appreciate the composite sum of their body of work, and “Dawn Bringer” is a crucial part the band’s unassailable catalog, capturing their transition from the militaristic barbarism of “Stillbirth Machine” to their esoteric and intricate swan song, “An Ending in Fire.” The band’s themes came into focus on “Dawn Bringer.” Helmkamp’s occult vision looked inside, isolating and exalting the self, whereas Keller, who shared the lyrical and thematic responsibilities, turned his gaze outward and upward, drawn to the celestial and cosmic. The iconic mutation of the Vitruvian Man design featured on “Stillbirth Machine” evolved into the “Conqueror of Fear” symbol adorning the cover of “Dawn Bringer,” representing the philosophical core of Order From Chaos: “He is the refuge towards which you crawl/Yet as poison fear has tainted your wine/Let fly the arrow marking you for death/He laughs- He represents foreverness.” Helmkamp dove deeper into this concept in his later lyrics, refining and expanding it, but the first coherent emanations of the Conqueror of Fear philosophy appear on “Dawn Bringer” during the second movement of the “Tenebrae/Draconis” track. One also hears Order From Chaos’ sonic evolution on “Dawn Bringer,” as several of the songs appear as reworked versions of tracks from earlier releases (i.e. “Labyrinthine Whispers,” which appeared with different lyrics as “Crimes Against the State” from the “Crushed Infamy” demo, “Megalomania” from the “Will to Power” EP was reworked to become “Ophiuchus Rex (He Who Plays with the Serpents),” and “Tenebrae” incorporated riffs from “Apocalyptic Visions” from the “Inhumanities” demo). Additionally, closing out the album is an extended, re-recorded version of “Webs of Perdition,” one of their defining tracks that first appeared on the “Will to Power” EP. On “Dawn Bringer,” however, the song ends with a stormy guitar solo panning back and forth in the background, disintegrating into noise as Keller ripped the strings off and tore at the pickups with a screwdriver. There’s an increased degree of complexity on display in the material on this album as well, especially on the song “Tenebrae/The Sign Draconis,” an eight-and-a-half-minute epic comprised of three segments—a compositional tool that would carry over to the band’s final album. This new reissue, which marks the first time “Dawn Bringer” has been released as a standalone vinyl edition (it previously only appeared in the “Frozen in Steel” box set from 2014), will hopefully elevate the album’s stature, firmly positioning it on the same plane as the band’s other full-lengths.

Order From Chaos “An Ending in Fire” LP/CD
ANTI-GOTH 096
12″ LP, Gatefold jacket, 2 sided A2 poster

(Description by J. Campbell)
Few bands in metal have had so profound an effect on their listeners as Order From Chaos. Though they received only a fraction of the attention to which they were rightfully entitled during their short-lived existence, those who have the capacity to recognize the inherent superiority of their music have been worshipping OFC ever since. “An Ending in Fire” represents the culmination of OFC’s output and is quite simply one of the most ambitious albums ever constructed. The stylistic complexity of A.E.I.F. coupled with the flawless execution of the performance has ensured that it will retain its monumental status in the annals of metal history for decades to come. When A.E.I.F. was recorded in 1995, OFC were at the apex of their art and saw this elaborate album as the pinnacle of their work. As a result, believing they had extended OFC to its fullest capacity, they chose to go their separate ways with Chuck Keller moving on to establish Vulpecula and later forming Ares Kingdom with OFC drummer Mike Miller while Pete Helmkamp pursued more technical and brutal elements with Angelcorpse and Revenge. Even now, however, some 13 years later, this album remains unsurpassed. So ahead of their time were OFC that only now are many in the metal underground coming to realize their majesty. OFC captures in their music the perfect union of power, honor, intelligence, and technical proficiency. Playing a style that blends elements of death metal, black metal, thrash, and perhaps even more disparate influences, OFC concocted a sound that has yet to be duplicated. Lyrically, OFC combine subtle and intelligent language with an impressive knowledge of philosophy, history, and science to weave together an intricate landscape of apocalyptic visions. The effect of OFC’s lyrical content was never as pronounced as it was on A.E.I.F. which demonstrates what is arguably both Chuck Keller’s and Pete Helmkamp’s most accomplished lyrical output. Conceptually, A.E.I.F. should not be construed as 9 distinct tracks. Rather, the album is comprised of only three pieces of music. The first of these, “Conqueror of Fear”, is a magnum opus unto itself. Written as a five part cycle, this song represents the ultimate realization OFC’s songwriting. “Conqueror of Fear” takes some of the most brilliant lyrical passages by Helmkamp and places them upon a densely layered yet highly controlled wall of turbulent and destructive riffs with the frenetic intensity of the music being driven in large measure by Miller’s devastatingly precise drumming. The next piece on the album is the 12 minute Chuck Keller epic, “There Lies Your Lord, Father of Victories.” Finally, the album ends with the three-part “Somnium Helios.” This song, also composed by Keller, describes the final cycle of life and the earth itself as our sun cools to a point at which it is no longer sufficient to sustain life before finally expanding to subsume our dead planet. Keller uses this eloquent narrative of the celestial fate of our sun and earth in an attempt to demolish any ill-conceived and naïve notions of eternal life that weak and foolish men may entertain. With this climactic end, OFC was finished. A.E.I.F., though recorded in 1995, would not be released until three years later and then only on CD. Now, after 10 years, NWN! has had bestowed upon it the tremendous honor of releasing this masterpiece on vinyl for the first time. This deluxe vinyl edition was realized through the cooperation and input of all of the original members and thus represents the first collaborative effort by the complete OFC lineup since its dissolution.

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