By: Chris Markwell
Album Type: EP
Date Released: 29/01/2020
Label: Independent
“The Deluge” DD//LP track
listing:
1. Bone to Earth
2. Astral Racer
3. Orchids
4. In Echoes
The Review:
Music has a power unlike any other. A sonic gift to transport us away from our
worries at times, a time capsule to transport us back to a milestone moment at
other times. In any case, good music
will evoke a response that transcends the sounds to which you’re
experiencing.
Enter from the wild lands of Finland: Orbiter. Their EP “The Deluge” is coming
out on January 29th 2020, and… well, it’s already going to be on my
Top Ten list for the year. It’s hard to
remain objective and give a detailed review about this simply transcendental
piece of work, but I’m going to do my utmost.
Four tracks long, this EP from the Finnish quintet
is all about quality and making every second mean something. There’s not a song that doesn’t hit the mark,
for me: with riffs so fuzzy my speakers developed a five o’clock shadow, it’s a
blend of Sabbath, Clutch,
Turbowolf, and Kyuss goodness, with a
smattering of heavier Hawkwind hits drizzled on top of
the mix. Seriously, you could eat some
of the sounds on this EP with a spoon, they’re that thick.
Vocalist Carolin, the newest addition to the band’s
line-up, has a truly haunting voice.
Like, ‘move a Ouija board planchette with her vocalisations’
haunting. The dual vocals on EP closer
track ‘In Echoes’ remind me, strangely, of folk singer Maddy Prior (of Steeleye Span fame). The track’s verses have this minimalist
approach to it, just a suggestion of guitar touches, which then descends into
the heaviest pit of distortion and sonic compression. Tuomas, in charge of the low frequencies,
really makes his presence felt in each track, but especially in this 8-minute
epic, where you feel the bass notes touch you like an old friend’s embrace one
minute, then hit you like a lightning bolt the next.
“The Deluge” has truly drenched my musical soul to its very core. Orbiter have
created a prog/doom/stoner EP that has not only knocked me out of the stratosphere
but caused me to be taken in by their mighty sonic gravity. As a satellite, I will happily keep coming
back to Orbiter forevermore.
“The Deluge” is available HERE
