ORPHEUS

Five-piece Norwegian band Orpheus are a female fronted act heavily influenced by traditional classic metal and, on paper, their self-titled debut sounds like it should be an ideal album for me to review. Unfortunately, it turns out to be consistently unimpressive and fails to deliver on all counts. The intro to the opening track, ‘Fuck Me Over’, reminds me of Metallica’s excellent ‘Bleeding Me’ but this is as good as it gets. Much of the musicianship is workmanlike and unspectacular, trying to be too clever for its own good whilst Ingrid Galadriel’s vocals, which remind me of a cross between Pauline Murray (Penetration) and Charlotte Lubbock (Symphony Cult), fail to match the charm and power of either. The songs are generally dull, devoid of melody, disjointed and lacking in any attention grabbing riffs or choruses with vocal lines that are both tiresome and dreary. The truly appalling ‘Peepin’ Tom’, for example, has such a long winded intro you are bored before the inadequate vocals kick in. It is at this point that you want to find the eject button. I doubt Orpheus can achieve greater results but going back to the drawing board and writing shorter, more straightforward songs with strong vocal lines/harmonies would be a good start. Orpheus have produced an album that is unlikely to make you want to play after one listen and with so many great rock/metal releases on the market, I cannot recommend this album to anyone.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Femme Metal Records

Album

ORPHEUS

Review by Dave Crewe

RUNNING TIME:

40:21

RELEASE DATE:

2011

TRACK LISTING

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

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Norway

"...consistently unimpressive and fails to deliver on all counts."