ORPHEUS – Orpheus

It’s finally time for Orpheus’ self-titled debut album. Orpheus is a Heavy Metal band from Trondheim, Norway. They combine dark and heavy riffs with Iron Maiden-like guitar harmonies. On top of it all you’ll find some female power vocals, courtesy of Ingrid Galadriel. Ingrid Galadriel is a name you need to memorize because if she continues to perform like this she’ll be one of the leading female vocalists in the Heavy Metal genre in a few years. She really sings like she’s got a pair!

The album was released through, Sidehorn Records, Orpheus’ own label, and was recorded in various studios/homes in Trondheim. Now, the sound on this record isn’t bad, but it’s not great either. For instance the kick drum sounds like someone’s hitting a piece of cardboard, the cymbals sound disturbingly awful at times (for instance “Repay”), the vocal peaks (also “Repay”), and the overall sound is a bit flat; it lacks a bit of an edge and overall dynamics. However, if you see past the production, and focus on the music itself you got eight songs on this record that are varied, and you get quite an interesting journey through Orpheus’ world of music.

What you will discover about Orpheus are well constructed riffs that are dead solid and well carried out guitar harmonies. The songs are, for the most part, exciting and contain a lot of great elements and riffs, but there are issues to be dealt with here. Those are the constant tendency to put in Maiden-like guitar harmonies between parts (sometimes it works, other times not) and the fact that many of the guitar solos contain notes that don’t fit the chords that are being played underneath, which makes it sound a bit off. This is quite often the case and the solo on “Mr. Manipulative” is probably the best example. The solo sounds uninspired and in addition to a few wrong notes the bending of the final note fails to reach the destined height. Why they’ve let this pass is a mystery, because most of the solos are also very technically challenging and needs perfection.

By now you might think this review is a bit too harsh, but overall there are a lot of great parts about this release. For instance the album opener “Fuck Me Over” and definite highlight of the record “Peepin’ Tom.” They are both innovative Metal tracks that are filled with great vocal harmonies, and long, wailing and melancholy riffs. These two songs are very strong tracks, instrumentally speaking, and the addition of the already mentioned Ingrid Galadriel’s voice lifts these songs to another level.

Orpheus’ self-titled debut is a good introduction to a band that is a well hidden secret in other parts of the world. There’s a lot of talent in this band, so let’s hope they can follow-up this album in a not too distant future.

Lineup

Ingrid Galadriel – Vocals
Kristian Drivenes – Guitar
Sivert Skaaren – Guitar
Rune Engesæter – Bass
Torgeir Nilsen – Drums

Tracklist

1. Fuck Me Over
2. Constructing
3. Bygones
4. Mr. Manipulative
5. Peepin’ Tom
6. Repay
7. Bloodflow
8. The Plan