After years of silence, the somber black doom metal troupe Ordo Obsidium return with their sophomore full-length A Crooked Path to Desolation. With the addition of a new drummer and vocalist, Crooked Path... presents a tortuous evolution to the band's funereal black foundations by incorporating avant-garde and death metal influences. Concise and dynamic, the result is a unique and complex melodic journey unlike anything else, vaguely recalling subtle hints of early Katatonia, Paradise Lost, and Ved Buens Ende. In this respect, A Crooked Path to Desolation casts a shadow over the mass of uninspired and derivative metal being spewed forth from the fading darkness of the underground. Recorded by the late, great Jef Leppard and mixed and mastered by Salvador Raya, the album features a lush and murky atmosphere complimented by the demented artwork of Maxime Taccardi. Ultimately, there can be no doubt that Ordo Obsidium have set themselves apart from all of the trends plaguing extreme music in these darkening days.