Orb Of Torture
Stereolith ()
Wydane przez Self-financedRok wydania Kraj BelgiumNapisał Wouter8
On their first internationally spread promo Belgian technical death metallers Orb Of Torture display why they possibly are that country's best kept secret in the genre.The three tracks ('Ten Billion Unique Monoliths', 'Death's Solemn Aura' and 'The Pathetic Selector') of this promo are an agile, ever progressive and epic display of classic US death metal mixed with a Canadian pummelling slant and a European sense of structural melody. Influences are many, but mainly towards Sylvain Houde era Kataklysm and (early) Suffocation (song structures remind a lot of "Sorcery" and "Breeding the Spawn"), Monstrosity (the percussive drive) and (early) forward thinking Swedish death metal such as Unanimated (sense of eerie melody). The riffing here is dense but varied, taking cues from both death – and black metal. The atmosphere is generally bleak and in that sense reminiscent of Immolation. Drummer Jense Philips is the highlight of this record, providing "Stereolith" with a lethal yet varied foundation. In all, his work is in the vein of Lee Harrison (Monstrosity) or Flo Mounier's earliest work with Cryptopsy. Vocally, Orb Of Torture reminds a lot of Belgian death metal export Aborted, circa "The Purity Of Perversion". Artwork, design and lay-out are quite informative and post-modern in concept and execution. The booklet offers only the needed info thus avoiding the usual cliché's of unreadable logos, endless thanklists and the involvement of the expected genre artists (Jon Zig, Tony Koehl, Studio Sho and the likes) for the cover art. While still a bit rough around the edges "Stereolith" is a definite stand-out release from the Belgian scene and single-handedly proves that besides (semi-)established acts such as Aborted, Emeth, In-Quest, Prejudice and Suhrim; there still are plenty of young acts ready to do something entirely unique with the oversaturated death metal genre. In the perfect world forwarding thinking acts like this one should get a well-deserved and respectable record deal. Be sure to pick this one up.
www.orboftorture.be
