Album review: ORCHID – Wizard Of War

Nuclear Blast – Out Now.

If, as I really hope, you are frequent visitors of our album reviews page you will remember that back in January, I was quite generous when rating “Heretic” – the four track E.P of the Sabbath-influenced San Francisco Rockers Orchid. Since then, I have been living in anticipation of the band’s upcoming studio album so I was understandably over the moon when I realised that new music related to this band was uploaded onto my account by Nuclear Blast records.

Instead, however, of the full length promised, the quartet and its label has decided to delay my ‘suffering’ by releasing what has been quite appropriately described as a ‘teaser’ – a three track 10’’ vinyl E.P entitled “Wizard Of War”.

Just as its predecessor, “Wizard Of War” indulges in some serious Sabbath worship, but does so in an inspired and refreshing fashion. The first composition on offer is the same-titled “Wizard Of War” –a bombastic tune whose groovy bass lines and heavy-as-hell riff will bring shivers down the spine of all Heavy Doom fans around the globe.

Similarly to Ozzy, Theo Mindell is not the most technically-disciplined singer around but has the swagger and attitude needed to make a classic 70s composition like “Demon’s Eyes” shine through. Though I truly enjoyed both those tracks, my heart was stolen by the six minute opus “Albatross” – a song originally featured in the band’s debut studio album “Capricorn”.

Working at a slow tempo and featuring bass harmonies and guitar leads reminiscent of Sabbath’s magnum opus “Planet Caravan”, this is one of the most addictive moody tracks that you will get to listen to by any band this young in age.

Though initially disappointed and somewhat annoyed by this classic case of promotional trickery on the part of Nuclear Blast, it was not long before I found my mood towards this three track release completely changing and that is solely on the strength of the material on offer.

I was hooked on Orchid long before this E.P came together and chances are that I will continue to be under their spell long after they fall into obscurity with the general public so the question here is: do I really need to add this to my record collection? Well, I have to admit that the answer to that question is a resounding “yes”! Now, can we please stop all this nonsense and have the band’s second full length album out, pronto?

John Stefanis

Rating: **** (4.0/5.0)

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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)