If the hair at the back of your neck stands up straight every time that you listen to Black Sabbath (with Ozzy) and you think that one of the best things that have ever happened to metal are the newer retro bands that started coming out in the early 00s, then Orchid is the next logical step for you.
In the band’s second full-length album, The Mouths of Madness, the third release of Orchid to come through Nuclear Blast after their last two EPs, Heretic and Wizard of War, Orchid invoke the spirit of Black Sabbath, adding influences from legendary bands such as Pentagram, Trouble and Count Raven while at the same time keeping an eye on the newer generation of doom bands such as Sahg (from the II and III albums), Devil (great doom metal band from Norway, check their second album, Gather The Sinners) and the first two Witchcraft albums obviously.
The result is a great doom metal record with heavy rock extensions. That much is obvious from the very energetic opening track “Mouths of Madness”; with heavy riffs pummeling down constantly and a great vocal performance, it is as good as it can get, with its more atmospheric and laid back moment about four and a half minutes into the song with the acoustic guitar playing. That is until the Sabbath-ian “Marching Dogs of War” kicks in, with a great groove and excellent guitar work. And even then Orchid manage to top themselves once again, with the “as doom as it can possibly get” third track, “Silent One,” a classic doom epos with disturbing guitar leads (from the very first fucking note), it spans over seven minutes of heavy music, picking up the pace and with the addition of the guitar solos it is easily one of the highlights of the album, it even includes bell samples (fuck yeah!).
Image via Pelecanus.net
The atmosphere shifts a bit after that, with the next two tracks having a more emotional and bluesy tone to them, starting with “Nomad” and its beautiful intro which changes into a much faster part about three and a half minutes into the song and ending up on a high note, only to give its place to the haunting riffs of “Mountains of Steel” and its magnificent piano in the last three minutes of the song. Their more emotional path continues with “Leaving It All Behind”, once more with addictive guitar melodies, touching the borders to more psychedelic musical investigations with the use of effects to create more space for their music to unfold.
The title track from their previous EP, “Wizard of War,” after the “Loving Hand of God” with its awe-inspiring bass line and the electrifying “See You On the Other Side”, with a short acoustic break, closes the album in an excellent way. Orchid have definitely reached their peak (so far) with this album and the doom metal community is probably holding its breath to see what they are going to do next. Until then, you can listen to The Mouths of Madness again and again.
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