By Jason Walker
People who know me in person know I’ve got a real bad habit of literally not shutting the fuck up about stuff that I’m passionate about, whether this is a TV series, anime – and especially music. So when a Swedish mate of mine, who shall not be named, cornered me about Orbit Culture in the lead up to a gig at Manchester’s Rebellion venue I figured I may as well give them a look in.
The gig itself was a pretty stacked lineup with Rivers of Nihil headlining, Black Crown Initiate, Møl, and Orbit Culture as the opening support act; so I was right in there at doors ready to see what they had in store – and they absolutely blew my head off: their live sound is BIG. So when I get a prod from one of the editors saying “Fancy this?”, my response was nothing short of a hearty “Fuck yes I do.”
This album is nine tracks of tech-death bangers, right from the start of ‘At The Front’ all the way to ‘The Shadowing’ as the finisher. It’s an album that rarely shows any regard for slowing down and these Swedes are definitely out to show that they’re going to cause a stir with what they’re putting out.
The vocals from frontman Niklas jump back and forth between absolutely filthy gutturals to cleans that sound like Metallica’s James Hetfield. The guitar tone throughout this album is incredibly crisp, the verses are dripping with absolute thunderous lows, offset by choruses with soaring, melodic highs. ‘North Star Of Nij’ really shows this off, that chorus is an absolute banger then drops into a verse riff that pounds so hard that you’ll want to give yourself whiplash doing a full-body headbang.
As far as tech-death goes, this comes off as a bit more accessible than say a lot of music from Fit For An Autopsy or Shadow Of Intent (whom I fucking love), because it’s got elements from all over the place, Orbit Culture doesn’t focus too much just on the brutality element, there’s a lot of emphasis on melody here and getting a good hook in there.
These guys chose some fantastic tracks off this album for their singles; tracks like ‘The Shadowing’, ‘Rebirth’, and ‘Nensha’ are excellent songs that sit on the tail end as a bit of a treat of familiar bangers for anyone who’s been following these guys in the lead up to this release. ‘Nensha’ is definitely my favourite out of these, there’s something about it’s incredibly frantic and brutal verses that stands out above the other singles, also it’s just straight up groovy.
If you’ve got a bit of an interest in tech-death in any remote way and you’re looking for something new to add into your playlists, then do yourself a favour and put these guys in it. Also if you get a chance to see them live, make sure you bloody do it, I don’t think it’ll be long before these guys hit bigger stages so make sure you see them at their most raw when you can!
FFO: Harbinger, Godeater, Shadow Of Intent, Fit For An Autopsy.
- ‘Niji’ is released today (Friday 7 August). You can get your copy, and loads of other Orbit Culture goodies, HERE.
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