I learned one very important thing in 2015: if you want to make a concept album, just call Mike Semesky. The singer of Raunchy and Rest Among Ruins is some sort of concept album prodigy, as evidenced by Rest Among Ruins’ full-length debut last year. Not taking any time to rest on his laurels, Semesky is back with a well-known face in the metal world, drummer Alex Rudinger of Good Tiger and formerly of The Faceless. These two friends, along with guitarists Greg Macklin and Gunter Ostendorp, have had Ordinance going as a studio-only passion project since the late 2000s, even before everyone in the band got involved in a multitude of other projects. Finally, though, this progressive death metal group is bearing more fruit, in the form of the group’s sophomore album The Ides of March.
As one might guess from the title, this is a concept album based around the conspiracy and eventual action to assassinate Julius Caesar. Each song is written from the perspective of a different character, with a cast that includes each of the Liberatores that assassinated Caesar, Marc Antony, Caesar’s wife Calpurnia, Caesar’s adopted son and eventual successor Octavian, and Julius Caesar himself. To re-tell this legendary tale in such a fashion is quite the undertaking, but given the level of talent in this band, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that this will be one of the most engaging concept pieces released this year.
Last month, our buddies at MetalSucks delivered the song “23 Wounds”, telling the story from the view of Marc Antony. Today, we are proud to give you the perspective of the man at the center of this epic, Julius Caesar, in the song “Of the Fatherland”. Stream the song below, and if you’re a drum aficionado, check out Rudinger’s playthrough of the song here. You’ll be able to hear the rest of this tale on February 26th, when The Ides of March has its official release. If you’re already stoked for this album, you can pre-order it on Ordinance’s BandCamp page.
