Orbit Culture – Descent
Release Date: 18th August 2023
Label: Seek and Strike Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Groove Metal.
FFO: Trivium, Metallica, Architects.
Review By: Jeff Finch
Orbit Culture knows how to bring the energy and the heat: when going into an album of theirs, expect to headbang and headbang often, as they bring monster hooks, razor sharp riffs, and great songwriting. After attaining breakthrough success with their album Nija in 2020, they followed it up with a well received EP in 2022. But here we are in 2023, and Orbit Culture is only looking forward while also looking down, in a sense, their newest album Descent taking us down the proverbial rabbit hole into the Swedish landscape: a landscape of metal.
Make no mistake, Orbit Culture is not just about riffs, as evidenced by their newest record Descent, where there is a lot of subtle variation to keep listeners satiated throughout. Opening track Descending is all about build-up, tribal in nature, the band imploring listeners that it’s time to go to battle, as Black Mountain bursts through the speakers with intense riffs right out of the gate, orchestral elements adding to the epic feel, a mammoth wall of sound encompassing us, threatening to take over, as the double bass pummels before transitioning into a half-tempo, headbanger of a riff. Added noise elements, similar in scope to those in the movie Inception, those deep, brooding, long notes, hit the listener with unfettered ferocity, even as the clean vocals in the chorus implore listeners to sing along.
A lovely violin, featured at the end of the track Sorrower, creates a sense of loss, even as it competes with the non-stop, double bass percussive assault, while clean guitar and a string accompaniment opens up Vultures of North, a melancholic mood and vibe enveloping the listener, all while treating us to razor sharp riffs.
The band takes an interesting turn on tracks From the Inside and Undercity, the former channeling their inner Metallica, the chorus strikingly similar to that bands hit King Nothing, as the vocalist tries to do his best Hetfield impression at times, while the latter opens up needing an arena to hold everything in, excellent leads kicking in, reminiscent of, strangely enough, the Black Album. From the Inside is an insanely catchy tune, while Undercity features rumbling bass and machine gun drumming over screams that kick the listener in the chest, all preceding supremely clean leads complementing the clean vocals, completely changing the dynamic of the track in an act of brilliant musical transition.
It’s on the final track, Through Time, where Orbit Culture throw a bit of a curveball after the onslaught of the previous nine tracks: clean singing over minimalist, clean chords, does not bring the same level of intensity as seen throughout the rest of the album, as if it might be tailor-made for radio, before tortured vocals hit us with about a minute and a half remaining, the emotion ratcheting up, clean guitars in the forefront as we’re assaulted with double bass and harsh vocals, a true climax presenting itself in the final moments of the album, only to be silenced with acoustic guitars before fading to black, a truly fitting end to an album that brought nothing but energy.
In releasing Descent, Orbit Culture has only proven that the acclaim they received upon the release of Nija was more than warranted. The melodies throughout this record are exquisite, the string accompaniments adding an air of sophistication while also proving to be deeply despondent, giving listeners pause as they’re hit from every angle by the patented Orbit Culture energy. It sounds like the band took some chances on this record, expanding their sound while still retaining everything that made them, them. Even some of the moments on the record that were a bit head-scratching at first, like the aforementioned Hetfield impression, don’t diminish the effect of the record as a whole, one that screams that these gentlemen are at the top of their game but only striving to up that game with every note, every riff, every subsequent release. Orbit Culture is here to stay, and as a listener, you’ll just have to hit play and go on this journey, this descent into the mind of Swedish Melodeath. 
(4 / 5)
