REVIEW: THE ORDER OF ISRAFEL [WISDOM]

★★★★

REVIEW

THE ORDER OF ISRAFEL

WISDOM

NAPALM RECORDS

by Eerie Eric

It’s been a good year for heavy music, particularly if you’re a lover of all things dark and doomy. Here in North Carolina summer has officially ended and the shades of autumn are beginning to take over. As the season of Samhain nears, the time is right for night skies, bonfires, and indulging in the dark musical offerings from the latter half of the summer. The choice selection for me? The Order of Israfel’s epic, “Wisdom,” which was released in late August. The band hails from Gothenburg, Sweden, a town known for producing superior dark music, (including, but not limited to doom giants, Graveyard.) The Order of Israfel also has the boast-worthy attribute of featuring guitarist, Tom Sutton. With this impressive debut, and in wrapping up a recent successful tour, Tom may have given us one of the strongest traditional doom releases of 2014, (and may be giving other new releases, such as superstar doomsters Electric Wizard’s “Time to Die,” a run for their money.) 

INTERVIEW: TOM SUTTON FROM 'THE ORDER OF ISRAFEL'

The Order of Israfel combine classic Doom, prog rock and a dash of folk. We asked head songwriter Tom Sutton some questions and he answered them..

Interview with Tom Sutton from The Order of Israfel

Could you tell us a little about band's name 'THE ORDER OF ISRAFEL ' and why you chose that name?

It basically started when I heard the name 'Israfel' from a friend of mine.  He mentioned it as the name for the angel of music.  As soon as I heard that, my eyes went a bit wide, and I immediately thought it could be something good for a band name.  It turns out that it's actually the Islamic archangel of music, and that it has been used by Edgar Allen Poe in one of his poems too.  When I heard the name, I immediately had this idea of an order that includes all music-lovers around the world.  I've found that no matter what kind of music people listen to, once we recognize each other as music people, there's a kind of connection and understanding, and I love that.  To me, music is one of the strongest forces for good on the entire planet.  It's almost a kind of magic.  The Order Of Israfel includes everyone who loves and lives for music.