Rough Edge: Order of Nine CD Reviews

ORDER OF NINE

"Season of Reign" (Nightmare Records; 2005)

Darkly introspective, "Season of Reign" is a CD with a unique sound and attitude that sets it apart from other CDs ... which is both its blessing and its curse.

Guitars crunch and grind through riffs that are thick with twisted emotion. Songs flow with melodies that are tainted with eccentric vocals that soar operatically at times and growl with a feral edge at others. Tempos chug along at a pace all their own, refusing to race ahead at full speed or slow down to a dead crawl.

It's a novel sound that not everyone will find to their taste and some may only find interesting when in the right mood. If that mood strikes you, however, you'll be hard pressed to find something as satisfying as "Season of Reign."

Order of Nine: Michael Chiccitt - guitar; Michael DeGrena - vocals; Tom Donaldson - bass; Michael Sirera - drums.

For more information, check out http://www.orderofnine.com.

"Season of Reign" (Nightmare Records; 2005)

Reviewed by Snidermann

The music on Order of Nine's "Season of Reign" is simply outstanding. Let's make that perfectly clear right at the beginning of this review. Now, onto the vocals: Vocalist Micahel DeGrena must have taken signing lessons at the King Diamond School of Falsetto Metal Singing. Just as I am starting to get into the music, DeGrena's voice shifts into falsetto and it just knocks me out of the moment.

"Season of Reign" is at its best when DeGrena stays within his normal vocal range and stays away from the painfully high notes. In fact, without that annoyance, this CD would truly be great. Instead, I can tell you that Order of Nine is very promising but I just can't deal with the King Diamond-like vocal maneuvering. In fact, if you ask me, when DeGrena sings sings like Diamond, it brings the entire project way down. I'm not picking on the guy because he's awesome when he's not reaching. It's just that when he goes too far, it gets in the way.

Order of Nine: Michael Chiccitt - guitar; Michael DeGrena - vocals; Tom Donaldson - bass; Michael Sirera - drums.

For more information, check out http://www.orderofnine.com.

"Of Once and Future Kings" (Nightmare Records)

Reviewed by Snidermann

Order of Nine were formerly known as Templar. If you ask me, Order Of Nine is a much cooler name and the band's music rocks hard with a rich, nearly Queensryche-like feel.

Order of Nine's majestic heavy sound draws you into their world of metal with no effort on your part and that's as it should be! The music is instantly fun, easy to get into and flows effortlessly from one song to the next. "Of Once and Future Kings" is loaded with power, attitude and killer fucking tunes.

If I had any complaint, it's that the vocals sometimes stray to the screechy side, but not often enough to make any real difference. Most of the time, "Of Once and Future Kings" really works. Order of Nine is for real and displays a full range of rock from the power ballad to heavy rock all the way to a kind of techno rock. And they succeed at every turn!

Order of Nine: Michael DeGrena - vocals; Michael Chiccitt - guitar; Mike Sirea - drums; Steve Rabinovich - drums.

For more information, check out http://www.orderofnine.com.

Rating Guide:

A classic. This record will kick your ass.

Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.

So-so. You've heard better.

Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.

Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.

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