Melbourne band Orpheus Omega have been very busy lately. As of this writing, they are currently on tour supporting their new LP Wear Your Sins. To find out what it’s like, Oliver sat down on a lazy Sunday morning and absorbed it all. Multiple times.
Like the big melodeath bands ala Children Of Bodom, Orpheus songs have more layers than the Earth’s crust. They have the basic band performances, but then compliment them with playful vocals, little trills here and there, all sorts of things that give it a special something. All these elements are complimented by the production, which is absolutely superb. The bass comes through like thunder and the treble is clear as a bell. I am constantly amazed that records of this production quality and scale can come out of the Australian local scene.
Sadly the start of the album left a strange taste in my mouth. Lighthouse starts off in a very odd way, as if they took and end of song fade out and put it at the start instead. This make it feel like you’re already starting part way through the song. The way it’s set up makes me feel like I’ve accidentally turned on Windows Media Player’s shuffle setting. Don’t get me wrong, it is definitely not a bad song, it’s just a weird way to begin the album. Thankfully the rest of the album just gets better from there, so keep that in mind if you give it a listen. It’s worth it.
Possibly my favourite song on Sins is Swim In The Black. There’s just something about it that got me dancing through a hangover. It’s got everything; it’s heavy, it’s melodic, it has keyboard parts that would put Deep Purple to shame, it’s just magnificent. I’m really not surprised they released a music video for Swim, as it shows off the band at their absolute best. The other single Suffer is crushing in its heaviness. It has a very Tesseract style where they lean heavy on syncopated polyrhythms, but unlike Tesseract they add in all these really interesting flavour enhancers. Little melodies here and there that give it that extra sparkle, like covering your chips with a dusting of chicken salt.
Sins has so many catchy songs on it it’s not funny. Insinerate (man I hope I spelled that correctly) is a favourite that makes me want to sing along and pump my fist. The album in general has this great balance of poppy tunes with some real darkness. You could say it’s a great example of the more modern styles of metal, which takes the melodeath framework and applies, you could say, soulful darkness. It’s most evident on tracks like In Time and Wash It All Away, which lean a little more on being emotionally brutal rather than balls to the wall RAAARRGHH I EAT YOUR EYES AND GUTS.
This is one hell of a record. Orpheus have raised the bar for local music, producing a fantastic record that can sit up there with the big boys of metal. If they keep up their hard work, it’ll pay off and they’ll become big boys themselves.
Track Listing
1 – Lighthouse
2 – In Time
3 – Suffer
4 – When Hope Gives Way To Reason
5 – Insinerate
6 – Unblinking
7 – Swim In The Black
8 – Wash It All Away
9 – Distorted Worlds
10 – Wear Your Sin
