Orbit Culture – Death Above Life
Orbit Culture – Death Above Life
Century Media Records
Release Date: 03/10/2025
Review by Rory Bentley
7/10
Meat and potatoes get a bad rap from us critics. Sometimes we spend so long up our own arses pontificating about innovative, head-spinning, genre-mashing acts that we forget that the average Metalhead on the street just wants big songs and something they can enjoy without whipping out a calculator. Which explains why Orbit Culture’s star has been on the rise for the last few years. Slowly and steadily, the band have hit every support slot they could find and peddled their brand of robust, catchy, and highly satisfying Melodeath to the masses – and the masses like what they hear. There’s no hint of industry-plant wankery or any sort of media hype machine. They have just been organically accepted by fans all over the world, and that is to be commended.
I now find their third album, “Death Above Life”, sitting in my inbox, ready for me to get my snooty critic’s pen out, and I am delighted to say that it’s a (mostly) cracking way to spend 50 or so minutes. If you like the stomping guitar melodies of Amon Amarth, the catchy electronic-tinged Melodeath of “Reroute To Remain” era In Flames, and the cinematic yet crushing elements of Architects before they went all ‘I can’t believe it’s not BMTH’, then you’re more than likely in for a great time. What the band have done previously, and continues to do here, is combine these familiar ingredients into a palatable cocktail that is mainstream-friendly, whilst still maintaining an Extreme edge.
‘Inferna’ is a killer opener that represents the Orbit Culture sound well. There are meaty riffs, guttural, bellowing vocals, and clean singing with a bit of grit on it. The electronic elements are used to propel the song to new heights of grandiosity, and it also has a sick breakdown to keep me happy! It’s a great start, and things get better from there.
‘Bloodhound’ wastes no time breaking faces and upping paces with a rousing shout-along chorus and a stomping Industrial vibe that sounds like Ministry switched out the smack for speed. Breakneck pace and riffs the size of planets will always go over well with me. ‘Inside The Waves’ then keeps the momentum going by kicking off with its huge chorus and proceeding to sound like “Clayman”-era In Flames with the kind of bounce that will get festivals jumping next summer.
The band states that movie scores have been a big inspiration to them, and this is clear on the likes of ‘The Tales of War’ and the Eastern-tinged ‘Hydra’, where it is used as a way to build grandiose intros before hitting you with the big riffs. It’s an effective formula to an extent, though it does become somewhat predictable as the album progresses. I would really like to see these symphonic elements incorporated more organically into the body of the songs rather than being used as an elaborate bookend.
Speaking of formula, I do feel that, by the album’s middle to latter half, the songs often bleed together a little. There’s nothing bad per se, but I found the title track in particular to be rather uninspiring and dull in comparison to earlier tracks that executed the same thing far more effectively. Knocking a couple of songs off would definitely benefit the overall flow of the album, in my opinion.
Thankfully ‘The Storm’ with its rousing tremolo melodies and Amon Amarth sway, and closing ballad ‘The Path I Walk’, save things at the death and really perk up the back half of the album. I’m normally critical of bands doing the ballad at the end, but there’s enough passion in the vocals and welcome variety to see things out on a positive note.
Orbit Culture needed to add some further anthems to their setlist to continue their momentum as the slots get higher and the stages get bigger. They have definitely done what is required on this release, but when album number four comes around, I’m going to need to see you push yourselves a bit more, lads.
‘The Tales Of War’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Inferna
02. Bloodhound
03. Inside The Waves
04. The Tales of War
05. Hydra
06. Nerve
07. Death Above Life
08. The Storm
09. Neural Collapse
10. The Path I Walk
LINKS:
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