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The Heretic Order's second album, Evil Rising, came up in my review queue so I dutifully listened a few times only to realize later I'd actually grabbed their debut All Hail the Order, an album I reviewed back in 2016. Oh well, after 1,500+ reviews I guess the only surprising thing is that I haven't done that more often. My gaffe did give me the opportunity to revisit an album, something I don't often get to do, and compare it to a band's newest release. I learned a few things.

First, All Hail the Order is nowhere near as good as the 3.75/5 I gave it. It's got some good ideas and does a decent job of creating the atmosphere of horror and slasher films the band is going for, but the vocals are another story. The singer uses too many effects on his voice and ends up sounding more like Trent Reznor than Mark Tornillo, which is who I originally compared him to. Thankfully, on Evil Rising, he's ditched a lot of the effects and uses his voice only to match the mood of the songs, whether it is an up-tempo anthem ("Straight Down [to Hell]") or a doomier cut ("Under the Cross of Pain"). This is a much better match for the music, which even on All Hail the Order was pretty good. There's still some over the top emoting, especially when the band is going for an "abandoned, haunted carnival" vibe.

If I were able to go back in time, I'd give All Hail the Order 3/5 and that means I consider Evil Rising a definite improvement. The Heretic Order has a way to go before they can match the theatricality of Savatage or even Sacred Steel, but they are moving in the right direction.