Orchid - 'Sign of the Witch' EP (Review)

By: Kat Hilton

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 17/07/2015

Label: Nuclear Blast Records

With bands such as Witchcraft and Graveyard turning away from the overtly Sabbath styling’s; I wonder do Orchid do the same?  The San Francisco stalwarts however shun this trend instead opting for full on Sabbath worship in all its glory; their latest EP ‘Sign Of The Witch’ demonstrates this with sophistication, style and damn good riffs. A lean offering of 4 songs in just 18 minutes, it blasts the senses throwing forth their dominant influences; Osborne and Iommi.

‘Sign of the Witch’ CD//DD//LP track Listing

1. Helicopters (4:05)

2. John The Tiger (4:52)

3. Sign Of The Witch (4:22)

4. Strange Winds (5:30)

Orchid is:

Theo Mindell | Vocals

Carter Kennedy | Drums
Mark Thomas Baker | Guitar
Keith Nickel | Bass

The Review:

You like Sabbath…we’ll give you Sabbath; with bands such as Witchcraft and Graveyard turning away from the overtly Sabbath styling’s; I wonder do Orchid do the same?  The San Francisco stalwarts however shun this trend instead opting for full on Sabbath worship in all its glory; their latest EP ‘Sign Of The Witch’ demonstrates this with sophistication, style and damn good riffs. A lean offering of 4 songs in just 18 minutes, it blasts the senses throwing forth their dominant influences; Osborne and Iommi.  Fuck Me its goooooooood.

‘Helicopters’ is a blatant homage to ‘Paranoid’ with 70’s rock and roll; groove tinged bass and thumping drums making this epically good; with the guitars almost an afterthought it leads the drum/bass attack to hammer through with ease. Theo’s vocals here are immense, smooth and penetrating they inflame the senses and ensnare the mind.  ‘John The Tiger’ has a markedly increased tempo; that little bit easier on the sludge, with the main guitar beat almost peppy. Offering an unexpected blast in its final third as it breaks down into a Latin influenced jam; a firm progressive note

‘Sign Of The Witch’ the title track and definitely the heaviest amongst this EP, it is a Dio-era Sabbath extravaganza; riff heavy, earthy, gravel tinged vocals and intriguing vocals make it an instant hit. Although it lacks the momentum of the others, it has more twists and turns than the rocky mountain road  and is immensely talented offering with enough guitar magic to leave me breathless for a week *ahem*

‘Strange Winds’ concludes the EP and kicks off with a malevolent start; hinting at the evil lurking within, it is a silky, hypnotic keyboard heavy little number. Once more Theo shines through; the timbre of his voice, the eerie quality with heartfelt, raw emotion bordering on blues quality strikes me to the core.  Teetering on the edge of a full blown jam; the band draw it out to full effect; with each note there is an expectation that this is it, this is the one where they go hell for leather and leave one in a dribbling pile to the next EP. Instead they leave unresolved tension; the string of sanity pulled taught and I for one panting for more- the clever fuckers.

‘Sign of the Witch’ is out now

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