Orange Goblin – Science, Not Fiction
Peaceville Records – 2024
Rock, Metal, Stoner,
Rated: *****
Renewed fire and all! Coming straight at you from the center of the earth. To be honest, it is not something I had expected a few years ago. Even though you will be hard pressed to find a bad album among the nine that came before, I had not expected Orange Goblin’s tenth album to be this freaking good. There were signs though. I have been so lucky as to see them live many times throughout their career. And only a few years ago, my fire, my desire to see them live had diminished. Orange Goblin rocked every stage they’d happen to find themselves on, but over the years their urgency had dwindled. And then I saw them again, a year or two again, and something felt different. And then I saw them again at Into The Void Fesvial in 2023 and Freak Valley Festival that year; and those shows sounded like an Orange Goblin ready to conquer the world! So fresh and hungry! Approaching their 30th anniversary, this is an awesome feat for a band and as said before, not something one would easily suspect. Vocalist Ben Ward has quit the drink and gotten healthy, can that be the thing that made it all so bizarrely much better? Perhaps so, cause now, on their new, tenth album Science, Not Fiction he is in extremely better shape, both lyrically and vocally then he has ever been before. And then there’s the new bass player. After founding member Martyn Millard decided to step down back in 2021, he sort of demanded Harry Armstrong formerly of Decomposed, Hangnail, Earls of Mars, End of Level Boss and frontman of Blind River to take his place. Great shoes to fill, but he seems willing and able. And with a new guy on board, ready to take on a first recording session with the boys, it might have kicked some more enthusiasm up everyone else’s asses as well. O’ and when you work with legendary producer Mike Exeter, who also worked with Black Sabbath and Judas Priest you are sure to bring your a-game as well. And Science, Not Fiction is not just an a-level album, it’s perhaps their best ever…
Launching their album into legendry by going underground with the enigmatic The Fire At The Center Of The Earth Is Mine, rumbling bass, thundering drums, rampaging riffs and wild solo work at three quarters of the song. There’s a motoring energy that’s even more prevalent on second track (Not) Rocket Science, but it’s the lyrics and vocals that immediately capture your attention. That beginning, the buildup, and then the ‘a-yeah’ taking it into classic metal territory. A charge, a rebel song, a call to arms, call it what you will, but if that song does not immediately fire you up, you’d best be switching to something else entirely. Second track (Not) Rocket Science calls for a chopper, a motorcycle, a brute to take out and weave through traffic with. That hang loose kind of bass work, sloppy yet o’ so tight. A seventies bridge taking it back to the perfect Ben Ward, taking his vocals and lyrics into even more riveting territory. He might not be a teacher or a preacher, but he is the one with the mic and his message is one that should resound throughout every bar and on every stage. For, it is not rocket science, and that’s all you need to do. Do right and do it right. A message that is extrapolated in third track Ascend The Negative, a different groove, especially towards the slow down in the end, where the punch becomes bigger vocally, but also with a thumping rhythm and riff.
A bit more psychedelic and kaleidoscopic in colors, False Hope Diets has even more messages and teaches of Ward inside. Which you can read in whatever fashion you want, which is the first brilliant aspect of the song. Yes, the message will be in the eye of the beholder. Sticking with the lyrics, they also feel perfectly written and executed. The different riffs melting over each other and suggesting the different sections of every song. Making it difficult to know what came first and what suggested which direction the song should go. And then Ward goes and does his best Wyndorf, turning the entire song into much more Monster Magnet than what Orange Goblin ever did. But don’t think it’s all message and Orange Goblin philosophy lessons they jive, hell no, there’s also more horror motifs like in Gemini (Twins Of Evil) or piano opened and ominous Cemetary Rats. Last one starting slow and doomy, before going Motörhead on your ass and infusing the guttural with speed. First one bringing groove to slower metal and hard rock and might be as much about the different sides of ones soul as it is about the story that unfolds. There are more brilliant cuts on the album and the deluxe version even has a tenth track Eye Of The Minotaur, but your regular edition brings it all to a closer with the End Of Transmission track. Ominous in message for all the Orange Goblin fans, for it not only looks back at everything they’ve done, there’s also a moment where Mr. Ward contemplates if this is the very last recording they will ever do. Orange Goblin was always big, but with Science, Not Fiction they’ve become even larger. As huge as a planet, and this album could bring the fire to everyone around the world. For Orange Goblin is sounding even more inspired and worthy of the legendary status we always knew they deserved. As if they’ve always been that dormant volcano and now decided to erupt in a most glorious pyroclastic flow. I feel the fire in my belly! And I can’t wait to see them live again!
(Written by JK)
Bandcamp
Homepage
Instagram
Facebook
Peaceville Records
