Year: 2025
Label:Warade

No, this isn’t a new Ordo Rosarius Equilibrium album. It’s been a while since Nihilist Notes (review) was released – four years, in fact, so we’re starting to get hungry for something new. Instead, this is a two-in-one re-release of old, out-of-print releases: the 2007 EP Four, and ORE’s part of 2005’s Satyriasis, a split with Italian Spiritual Front.

It would be nice to hear some new material. But, on the other hand, it is also good that this material is available again. Some of it belongs to the best ORE have ever done.

I’m referring in particular to the tracks from Satyriasis, all of which are nothing short of classics in my mind. They are ORE at their peak: dark, erotic, nihilistic, sensual, savage. Somewhere between martial industrial, neofolk and nihilist pop, or whatever one should call the slight shift of style ORE underwent between this period and 2019’s Let’s Play (review), there’s no easy way to pigeonhole this sound.

The material from Four is of a similar ilk, except perhaps a bit less sensual and a bit more martial. Which means the material from the two releases meshes together quite well, especially on the CD version where the tracks intermingle. On the vinyl, Four is on one side and Satyriasis on the other, which makes sense for the format.

For those unfamiliar with ORE, this is actually not a bad place to start, because – to reiterate – this contains absolute classics. Particularly the duo of Hell Is Where The Heart Is and Three Is An Orgy, Four Is Forever: with softly strumming acoustic guitar, atmospheric orchestrations, and Tomas Pettersons’ understated, mostly recited vocals, ORE build beautifully sensuous, erotically nihilistic and endlessly melancholic masterpieces.

Four is a fine release, but in this company, its tracks end up playing second fiddle. That said, the martial bombast of I Am The Sun [Anus Dei] – which perhaps somewhat evokes Puissance – and the devotional Singing For The Angel Of The East stand out, as well.

Especially the vinyl is a worthwhile item for all fans of ORE, because it represents the first ever the tracks of Satyriasis have been released in the format. Otherwise, especially for old fans, this release is more about completism, as it contains nothing unreleased. The tracks have been remastered, true, but the difference isn’t so great as to necessitate acquiring 4 Equilibrium & Nihilism just for that.

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