Arson Cafe: Orchid - The Mouths of Madness (2013)

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Orchid - The Mouths of Madness (2013)

Orchid "The Mouths of Madness"

Spring 2013, Nuclear Blast

History repeats itself? Its a common proverb and probably true. Lots of bands that worship the 70s rock/metal sound have sprung (out of nowhere?) the last years, making the old school new school again. I don't know if its fashion or a natural reaction to the infinite amount of rubbish all over the mainstream music industry today. Whatever it is, the case lies on the fact that the old fans will find something fresh to enjoy and the new fans will be taught how it is done.

If you have listened to this band before, or read something about them, you surely have encountered the bands Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Pentagram etc... And that's about what Orchid are. I can say with certainty that they are the best progeny of Sabbath since 1970, with tons of bands trying to sound like them or being heavily influenced by them. If it isn't anything new, what should you listen to them? I don't know. It is the mishmash of all the classic doom metal/rock elements with a modern metal sound and production that make them succesful. And enjoyable to the bone.

Most of the riffs have been played a million times the last 40 years, but not as properly as Orchid use them. There are also heavy church bells and a some bits of flutes, which are also common in doom, i know right. The psychedelic and stoner elements are present everywhere on the album, as if you wouldn't not be expecting it, delivering some pretty amazing tunes. It feels as they would continue the early Black Sabbath way from 1975 and after. They fit perfectly, musically & aesthetically, they even perform almost like the good old stoned Sabbath. The vocalist is something between Sabbath and Trouble, which is like perfect for this music.

The Mouths of Madness is the second album after the mastepiece Capricorn in 2011, and the similarities are even more recognizable, in songs like "Silent One", "Loving Hand Of God", "See You On The Other Side". All nine tracks have the appropriate dose of doom, old school rock, melody and atmosphere. I love it because it sounds like Sabbath, a lot. Maybe even more than Sabbath.

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DAMAGE: [7.0/10]

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Reckoning

From all the hills came screams. A piece of sky beside the crescent sun was detaching. It was a loosened circle of evening sky, suddenly lighted from the back. It was an abrupt black body out of nowhere; it was a flat disk; it was almost over the sun. That is when there were screams. At once this disk of sky slid over the sun like a lid. The sky snapped over the sun like a lens cover. The hatch in the brain slammed. Abruptly it was dark night, on the land and in the sky. In the night sky was a tiny ring of light. The hole where the sun belongs is very small. A thin ring of light marked its place. There was no sound. The eyes dried, the arteries drained, the lungs hushed. There was no world. We were the world’s dead people rotating and orbiting around and around, embedded in the planet’s crust, while the earth rolled down. Our minds were light-years distant, forgetful of almost everything.