ORCHID – Heretic

Nuclear Blast – Out Now

Being a huge fan of the 70s I am quite content, yet somewhat baffled, by the music industry’s current fascination with the Rock scene of said era, and especially since a more commercially-orientated label like Nuclear Blast has opted to get its claws on some of the most impressive outfits, such as Witchcraft, Graveyard and now Orchid.

Orchid is a four piece Doom Metal outfit that, though it hails from the Mecca of Thrash Metal, San Francisco/USA, its loyalties lie on the other side of the pond, mainly with Birmingham’s finest Black Sabbath. Having released their debut album “Capricorn” with the help of the small Indie label The Church Within a year ago, the band used a handful of compositions left over for from that album’s session, added the already released track “He Who Walks Alone” and put together a four track EP, entitled “Heretic”.

As I already mentioned earlier in my review, Orchid worship at the shrine of mighty Tony Iommi, and though their riffs and solos predominantly sound terribly similar to those of the Black Sabbath maestro, there are times when certain ideas and melodies are more akin to those of Cathedral and/or Witchcraft, thus adding a modern feel to the proceedings.

This style of music, as we all know, is heavily dependent on the mighty riff so it is a good thing that guitarist Mark Thomas Baker is on top of his game here. Having said that, much credit needs to be given to Theo Mindell as it is his ‘tortured’ psychedelic vocals that add the much needed atmosphere, making “Heretic” come across as an impressive body of work rather than cover band material.

The opening same-titled composition “Heretic” features a short cinematic-style spoken intro but soon turns into a slow-paced groovy piece adorned by Theo’s unearthly vocals and assisted by some cleverly placed background Hammond melodies which are mixed in such a way that they do not distract the listener’s attention from the ‘mighty riff’. “Falling Away” finds the band in a more reflective mood, indulging in some beautifully-crafted acoustic guitar melodies and commanding vocals.

No other song proves the band’s admiration for the work of Black Sabbath more than “Saviours Of The Blind”, but much as I loved its simple repetitive groovy riff it was the melodic sing-along chorus of the equally heavy “He Who Walks Alone” which provided not only the absolute highlight of this release, but also an impressive closing theme to this short but delightful EP.

“Heretic” is one of those releases which are impossible not to fall for as it is simple in its structure, honest in its intentions and powerful in its appeal! The only thing that I am a bit disappointed with is that I cannot listen to more of the band’s music but EPs are supposed to work more as promotional tools rather than complete products.

Now that the relationship between band and label is further solidified by this release, we are left to hope that an album full of similarly impressive material will not be too long in the making!

John Stefanis

Rating: **** (4.0/5.0)

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)