Album Review: "Back From The Abyss" by Orange Goblin

Back From The Abyss

Last year my friend and I were on our way to see Manchester City and Chelsea FC play the first ever soccer match in the confines of Busch Stadium.

He is a big fan of stoner metal and at that point, I'd never heard such music, well at least beyond High On Fire anyway.

He'd introduced me to Orange Goblin that day and needless to say I've been pretty excited to write up this review after seeing they had a new record coming out.

Honestly, I don't know how metal Orange Goblin is...but anyway.

Stoner Metal is something that I think most people don't know a whole lot about. It gets even less play than Death Metal. I kind of liken it to music that's more descended from Black Sabbath than Motorhead and Judas Priest. It's still bluesy and oftentimes psychedelic.

Orange Goblin

As always, the OGs from Orange Goblin lay the groove on thick. What's fun about their music is how they can groove at such a high tempo.

Their songs are fast and furious for the most part.

Much like the progenitors of metal, Sabbath, Orange Goblin makes the most out of a four piece sound. There are no weak links here.

No one is along for the ride. Everything interlocks with some very crafty songwriting.

The sound is not created with high gain Peavy 5150's, but sounds more like natural gain. The guitars are rusty. The perfect kind of dirt. The bass thunders under the guitars and the vocals.

Speaking of which, the vocals are gritty. They're a shade between between shouted and growled. There's definitely no influence there from Ozzy.

The drums do take a lot away from Bill Ward and that fills up the groove the nicely.

If you love Sabbath, buy this record. It's far better than 13 ever was.

Release: 10/07/14
Genre: Stoner Metal
Label: Candlelight Records
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