Band:	The Order Of Apollyon
Album:	The Flesh
Style:	Black metal, Death metal
Release date:	May 2010

01. God Speaks
02. Ich Bin Das Licht
03. Word
04. Never
05. Fifth
06. White Dust
07. Four Beasts
08. Flesh Of Yhvh
09. Ex-Voto
10. L'orgueuil

When all that you can say about an album after having heard it for the first time is that "it's pretty fast", you know you're not exactly dealing with a masterpiece. The Flesh by The Order Of Apollyon is this kind of album - filled to the brim with enjoyable speedy death/black that sadly excels primarily at being forgettable.

There are no surprises here and the band ventures into no unexplored territory. It basically seems like the boys from The Order Of Apollyon really like what bands like Hate and Order Of Ennead do on recent albums and decided to go ahead and record more of the same. The Flesh is therefore a nice death/black hybrid with the band pummeling away at light speed in most songs. To differentiate tracks from one another, there are various small detours here and there such as some industrial elements, a German lyric or some Slayer leads. A harsh and oppressive atmosphere cements all of this together into a cohesive whole. Nevertheless, don't expect the same kind of corrosive vibe that bands like Deathspell Omega manage to conjure - here, we have a much less menacing beast. Like a well behaved, domesticated pit-bull, The Order Of Apollyon, while possessing the sculpted musculature of a crazed killer, really wants nothing more than to please. Listening to The Flesh is therefore an altogether pleasant experience as we see this animal wag its tail, impeccably satisfying all pedigree and training requirements. Nevertheless, let the dog run out into the street and its domesticated nature will be its doom - any urban mongrel will kill it with no remorse.

The Flesh is therefore not an album for the real connoisseur of genuine, innovative danger in music. After all, change is always scary. Instead, I can imagine listening to this music while barbecuing in the yard - it definitely is enjoyable; however, will be out of my system as quickly as a badly cooked fajita.