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Orange Goblin

ORANGE GOBLIN – A EULOGY FOR THE DAMNED (9)

If any band is an institution, it’s Orange Goblin. 15 years and counting, and they’ve yet to release a truly bad album. Having said that, ‘Time Travelling Blues’ and ‘The Big Black’ were not eclipsed by their follow ups. No such problem with this beast. ‘Red Tide Rising’ kicks off this album,  and along with ‘Scopionica’ will quickly become another live favourite. Elsewhere, ‘The Fog’ is a hulking epic, built around a typically barrelling OG riff. However, if it ain’t broke, don’t stand in the way trying to complain about it. Particularly when ‘The Bishop’s Wolf’ is just around the corner with Lynyrd Skynyrd tweaks that’d blow your hat off.

Perhaps due to the forthcoming apocalypse, OG 2012 is a more thoughtful beast, albeit one that is pleasingly influenced by Trouble: ‘Acid Trial’ and ‘Save Me From Myself’ are chest-beating contemplatives, at least in lyrical terms. But it’s not all doom and gloom (well, maybe not gloom), what with ‘The Filthy And The Few’ and ‘Return To Mars’ keeping up OG’s reputation as the good-time band of the UK doom scene. Ben Ward may not be the best singer, but he makes up for it with a massive presence and buckets of passion. Rounding off with the eponymous title track, OG have proven their stock is high as ever.

Reviewed by Steve Jones
A Eulogy For The Damned is out on February 13 on Candlelight

You’ll like this if… you like the idea of Sabbath’s rowdier younger cousins having a good knees-up with a delinquent Trouble.