SHOW REVIEW: Orange Goblin does Larissa

2012 is a big year here at TZEEEAC HQ. Marco has become a full-time law student, ready to pursue his dream of becoming a greasy, unwashed, goofball Italian lawyer working for the mob and getting paid in guns and free hookers, while I have moved to Larissa, Greece to get a Master's Degree in Management, thus sending me to a fast-track on the road to a McDonald's upper management position. That's the best case scenario, anyway.

Even the Greeks can't spend ALL their time chilling in cafes, so I was glad to discover the position of a rock/metal bar in Larissa, called Stage Club, which frequently hosts all sorts of metal and punk concerts. Sweet! The first one I attended was the last show on the Greek segment of Orange Goblin's European tour, three nights ago.

Right off the bat, I have to say I missed the opening band, Black Juju. I was already running late when I left home, having just returned from a 15 hour boat trip - I only took a shower when I got home and then I ran straight for the club. Unfortunately, it took me fucking forever to find it and, by the time I got in, Black Juju were already on their last song. Still, they seemed pretty cool, like a mixture of occult rock, stoner and sludge metal with some Black Sabbath vibes. Sorry guys, maybe next time.

The tech dudes then started putting together Orange Goblin's stuff, so I took the opportunity to grab a beer from the cute tattooed girl at the bar and have a look around. The place was rather small, but it was very well ventilated and it had toxic waste barrels by the stage where people could put their drinks while headbanging like maniacs. The place was PACKED with huge tall bearded guys that made me feel like a dwarf, but the overall atmosphere was very laid back.

And then, out of the blue, an ominous drone filled the venue, the lights went dark and, slowly, the four British riders of the stoner apocalypse made their way on stage. A second later, the room EXPLODES with the opening riff of Red Tide Rising and people go nuts. Orange Goblin are obviously in a good mood and are excited to be there. Singer Ben Ward looks like a long-haired Obelix with lots of tattoos, joyfully singing and throwing the horns to the excited audience. Guitarist Joe Hoare is KILLING IT on the guitar, with heavy riff pilling upon heavy riff. Martyn Millard lays down the groovy, rumbling bass lines to provide a suitable background for Hoare's scorching hot solos, while Chris Turner, who sort of looks like Sons of Anarchy's Opie, thunders away on his rather sparse drum kit (NO BLASTBEATS? WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?!).

The band tears through the best pieces from their latest album, A Eulogy for the Damned - Stand for Something, The Filthy and the Few, The Fog, Acid Trial, Death of Aquarius - and throws in some older stuff too - Aquatic Fanatic, Round Up the Horses, Some You Win, Some You Lose, Time Travelling Blues - while saving the incredible Scorpionica for their final moments on stage. The band was having a blast, the audience was cheering and screaming for more, hands were being shaken and the beers were flowing. A great night, in my book.

Afterwards, I grabbed a sweet shirt, took one last look around and got out into the warm night to crawl my way back home on foot, sweaty and exhausted. But hey, it was totally worth it.

The next show I'll probably attend is Birthday Kicks/Eternal Hatred/Slab/Planet of Zeus, which should turn out to be another awesome night of local stoner rock madness. But until then, school is starting and I need to get some reading done. Pax.

** More shitty cellphone shots after the jump

Orange Goblin - A Eulogy for the Damned (2012)

You're right, I am a rotten bastard, I admit it. But I tell ya something: even though I got a lot of hate inside, I got some friends who ain't got hate inside. They're filled with nothing but love. Their only crime is growing their hair long, smoking a little grass and getting high, looking at the stars at night, writing poetry in the sand. And what do you do? You bust down their doors, man. Dumb-ass cop. You bust down their doors and you bust down their heads. You put 'em behind bars. And you know something funny? They forgive you.  

Astute TZEEEAC readers will remember that Orange Goblin was the very first band we talked about on our beloved blog, touching on their first three albums and praising them for the excellent psychedelic stoner rock they produced. Frequencies from Planet Ten, their first album, came out way back in 1997 and, since then, the band has managed to keep its original line-up more or less intact. That's 15 years (jeez, how the time passes...) of Joe Hoare blazing through awesome stoner rock riffs, Martyn Millard laying down the bass grooves, Chris Turner pounding the skins and the grizzly Ben Ward singing in his harsh, powerful voice. These Londoners are nothing if consistent.

Five years down the line since their last album, Healing Through Fire, Orange Goblin make their long-awaited return with their latest effort, A Eulogy for the Damned. The first thing that struck me was the cover art. Jesus Christ, what the hell is going on here? There's a man-woman hybrid being attacked by three demons/gargoyles while riding a chopper through a sea of blood while two dead astronauts (one popping pills and another getting his drink on) and a two-headed Cerberus are floating about, along with two huge tentacles poking out of the red waters. It's certainly interesting to look at and, once you go through the songs, you'll find that each of the things on  the cover are somehow related to the lyrics. Pretty clever, not to mention it's miles ahead from their previous album cover, which was an awful, half-assed Photoshop job full of skulls and shitty colors.

The good news, however, is that A Eulogy for the Damned is a rock-hard hard rock album that wastes no time in getting you to bang  your head with unprecedented vigor. Album opener Red Tide Rising throws everything it's got at you. The powerful, distorted riffs, the intense drumming and Ben Ward's gruff voice work so well together that the song hooks you instantly and torments you with apocalyptic tales of Cthulhu rising from the sea and fucking shit up. The guys have also developed a penchant for awesome choruses, like the ones on The Filthy and the Few or Stand for Something, which add a lot to the rock out with your cock out feel of the album. It's also interesting to note how the album constantly shifts gears between hard rock anthems that you'd expect to hear at a drunken biker party and the more aggressive, doom-laden songs about horrifying creatures and rotting horrors, like The Fog or Death of Aquarius. And, to round things up nicely, there's even a short psychedelic tune called Return to Mars which alludes to the band's early output of spaced-out stoner rock.

After 15 years together, these guys function together like a well-oiled machine - no riff feels awkward, no drum beat goes amiss, no lyric is off-beat. The crystal clear production fits the sound quite well, even though I sometimes long for the rawer feel of their early days. Clearly, Orange Goblin know what the hell they're doing and are comfortable enough to actually have fun while playing music. A Eulogy for the Damned isn't a milestone in their discography by any means, but it's a solid record that should get the crowds screaming in a second. Hopefully, I'll have the chance to confirm that soon.

Orange Goblin

Orange Goblin s-au format în anul 1995 în Marea Britanie şi sunt una din cele mai faine trupe de stoner metal out there. Chiar la începutul carierei lor au scos un split împreună cu Electric Wizard, şi numai lucrul ăsta ar trebui să vă alarmeze cu privire la nivelul de awesomeness al trupei. Însă Orange Goblin se laudă şi cu o discografie excelentă, numărând şase albume full-lenght şi cam tot atâtea single-uri şi split-uri.

Ca stil muzical, Orange Goblin o ard pe un stoner metal cu ceva influenţe sudiste, alături de aroma obligatorie de Black Sabbath. Muzica lor este groovy as fuck, extrem de ritmată şi foarte catchy, iar pe albumele noi aud că au căpătat un sound mai agresiv decât înainte. Eu am trecut numai prin Frequencies..., Time Travelling Blues şi The Big Black.

Frequencies from Planet Ten (1997) 

Tracklist:

1. The Astral Project (Class A) 06:49
2. Magic Carpet 03:19
3. Saruman’s Wish 06:04
4. Song of the Purple Mushroom Fish 02:33
5. Aquatic Fanatic 04:20
6. Lothlorian 01:26
7. Land of Secret Dreams 07:38
8. Orange Goblin 05:33
9. Star Shaped Cloud 09:39

Total playing time 47:21

Albumul lor de debut, adică o bucată de stoner-rock psihedelic şi groovy ca naiba. Fiecare piesă are o atmosferă foarte 70s, încărcată de funk, fum şi valuri de halucinaţii. N-ai ce să zici rău de el. Are piese interesante, ritmate, tot felul de efecte şi wah-uri ciudate, titluri interesante şi amuzante pe alocuri, chitara scuipă riff după riff de stoner goodness şi totul este foarte groovy. Cred că Magic Carpet Ride este piesa de rezistenţă, dar mi-a plăcut tot albumul.

Time Travelling Blues (1998) 

Tracklist:

1. Blue Snow 04:23
2. Solarisphere 06:09
3. Shine 06:56
4. The Man Who Invented Time 03:48
5. Diesel (Phunt) 02:46
6. Snail Hook 05:48
7. Nuclear Guru 06:16
8. Lunerville 7, Airlock 3 04:31
9. Time Travelling Blues 06:40
10. Sober Up 06:42

Total playing time 53:57

Dumneseule mare, albumul ăsta este de o mie de ori mai bun ca Frequencies, şi asta spune multe. Stilul a progresat către o atmosferă mai agresivă: distortion-ul este mai puternic, Ben Ward răcneşte nervos, tobele bubuie nemilos, dar groovyness-ul tot acolo e. Toate piesele sunt extrem de catchy şi tot aşteptam să dau de o piesă mai slăbuţă ca să pot să mă reîntorc la cursurile neglijate din cauză că dansam la birou, dar n-a fost să fie. Întregul album este fantastic de la cap la coadă, iar Orange Goblin tocmai au devenit una din trupele mele de stoner/doom preferate. Fuck dat, au devenit una din trupele mele preferate. Nu ştiu cum am trăit până acum fără albumul ăsta. Este suprem.

The Big Black (2000)

Tracklist:

1. Scorpionica 03:13
2. Quincy The Pigboy 03:55
3. Hot Magic, Red Planet 03:51
4. Cozmo Bozo 05:59
5. 298 kg 03:54
6. Turbo Effalunt (elephant) 03:33
7. King Of The Hornets 05:13
8. You’ll Never Get To Moon In That 04:21
9. Alcofuel 02:23
10. The Big Black 11:52

Total playing time 48:14

The Big Black continuă stilul adoptat odată cu Time Travelling Blues şi ne serveşte încă o porţie de stoner metal de cea mai bună calitate, care te face să vrei să-ţi aprinzi un cui şi să dai cu pumnu-n toţi pereţii. Ben Ward este în formă maximă, achitându-se cu brio de sarcinile vocale şi adăugând enorm la atmosfera pieselor. I love him. Riff-urile mustesc de Sabbath, trecut printr-un filtru serios de alcool şi droguri, rezultatul fiind nişte linii melodice intense şi distractive, care te duc într-o călătorie intergalactică dementă. Sunt tentat să zic că-i cel mai bun album Orange Goblin pe care l-am auzit, însă adevărul e că albumul meu preferat Orange Goblin este cel pe care-l ascult pe moment.

Încă n-am avut timp să trec prin restul discografiei, dar într-un fel e bine. Gives me something to look forward to. Sunt curios cât de mult a mai fost împinsă agresivitatea, pentru că mi se pare că pe Time Travelling Blues şi The Big Black au atins un echilibru perfect între stoner rock şi rarararararara.

Oricum, Orange Goblin sunt olimpieni. Atât.