Orange Goblin - "Frequencies From Planet Ten"
(Rise Above/Music For Nations 1997, CDRISE 15)
From Aural Innovations #8 (October 1999)
When I saw this UK band open for Cathedral last February, I couldn't help but groove harder to them than the main act, as Cathedral are doomier and less 60's influenced, and Orange Goblin triggered more of a spacerock chord in me. So finally I stumble across this two year old release and I'm very pleasantly surprised. Just the cover is enough to get me to notice, a cosmic painting of a cracked amp on a distant planet in fantasy style, and with song titles like "The Astral Project" or "Song Of The Purple Mushroom Fish", it thrust me further into purchase.
Opening with the former mentioned track, a heavy psychedelic "stoner"-ish piece with heavy organ and swirling synths, the album is a cosmic Tour de Force few of their ilk seem to pull off quite as psychedelically. "Magic Carpet" is a more traditional piece which reminds me a bit of Spiritual Beggars' "Monster Astronauts" for some reason. "Song of The Purple Mushroom Fish" is a short instrumental of mellow distorted guitars with echoey fx and more swirly synth noises, only more subdued, giving a feel of a vast psychedelic ocean, which continues into "Aquatic Fanatic" which has more of a psychedelic progmetal feel with more melty guitars. This is followed by the short acoustic instrumental "Lothlorien", with what sounds like an epic mellotron in the best "Hall of The Mountain Grill" style, a definite reminder of the 70's technology this band seems to embrace, doing it more than well. Eventually the CD closes with the ultra trippy "Star Shaped Cloud", a psychedelic organ-loaded spaceprog epic with more spacey guitars and cosmic lyrics, the tune varies between going into overdrive and mellow spacey parts. The band has two guitarists, bass, drums and organ/keyboard/sampler. For those who enjoy trippy lyrics, this album is loaded with enough to get any head a ponderin' and comes thusly highly recommended!
Reviewed by Christian Mumford