| Orphanage “Oblivion” DSFA Records , 1995 Lord Pale : Orphanage is a Death Metal act from the Netherlands featuring keyboards , both deep growling death vocals and clear male and female vocals . The guitars are crushingly heavy , combined with the at times almost Gregorian backing vocals and GeorgeOosthoek’s deep guttural growling , the result is a very deep and dark sounding album . This can at times be counter balanced as occasionally the riffs although mind blowingly heavy can tend to be a little groovy . They are mid tempo , and never venture into blastbeat territory , but that wouldn’t suit their style anyway . Lyrically the bad concentrate on meloncoly themes, like insanity , introversion , and the ignorance of man , with one track “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” ( don’t let the name put you off ) based on a H.P Lovecraft story . It may take a few listens to get into this album , but after a while it really grows on you . Some songs can tend to drag on a bit and sometimes it all sounds a little familiar , but with a little patience you may well come to appreciate this album like I did . Favourite Tracks - Chameleon ; The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward ; Sea Of Dreams Mark - 7.5/10 SECOND OPINION Gloon : Slow but kick arse. Unique death-doom metal with an opera twist. Well worth the purchase Mark - 7.5/10 Favourite Tracks - Chameleon, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward Orphanage “By Time Alone” DSFA , 1996 Lord Pale : Similar to ‘Oblivion’ , doomy death metal you can almost dance to . More clean male vocals in a wider variety of tones ( all doomy though ) with plenty of female vocals and a new semi synthesised snat . Pianos and synth are used more frequently as wells as some violins . Plenty of variety but tends to sound a little samey at first . Lyrically mostly doomy but again two songs are based on works by H.P Lovecraft . Focusing on a darker less straight up heaviness than Oblivion with the introduction of some choirs and even more Gregorian styled chants on songs like ‘Requiem’ . There is definitely something a little different about this album , I think the production is even rawer and flatter than that of the debut and there are less cheesy moments and more straightforward seriousness . However this is still very much Orphanage and if you liked the first album then you will inevitably like this one too . A good follow up . Favourite Tracks – At The Mountains Of Madness , Ancheint Rhymes , Odyssey Mark – 7.5/10 Orphanage “Inside” Nuclear Blast , 2000 Lord Pale : Orphanage return after a 4 year break with their best and most accomplished album to date . All the elements of past releases are here , clean male and female vocals and their distinctive deathy growl . What is immediately noticeable is the improved production, which takes the raw edge off the music but also allows the keyboards to shine much better . Heavy groovy dance riffs pervade over doomy female vocal arrangements . The lyrics are heading in a less doomy more personal ‘wake up call’ direction, which suits the newer material . The strangest new song is ‘Behold’ which has a spoken intro and tells a fantasy story of violence , prophecy and bloodshed with a guest female vocalist making an appearance , and its slower more narrative feel stands out from the rest of the album . A kick arse slab of groovy , doomy ? original death in the way only Orphange can play it . Favourite Tracks – Kick , Inside , Behold Mark – 8/10 Orphanage 'Driven' Nuclear Blast, 2004 Lord Pale: Orphanage return for their forth studio album of emotive metal death groove minus 3 members including long time guitarist/clean male vocalist Lex Vogelaar ( who does appear on the final track 'Enders Game' which he wrote the music for ). Stepping up to take his place however is new bassist/guitarist Remko Van Der Spek who wrote a great deal of the new material and also produced the new album. Driven is easily the bands strongest and most well conceived album to date and should see the Netherlander's getting more attention in the media which they thouroughly deserve. The album starts with three of the bands best songs to date 'The Sign' atypical Orphange track that fans will immediately like, 'Black Magic Mirror' a warped bouncy carnival track with loopy vocals, and 'Cold' a slower bass driven groove track with good choir/grunt interaction and staggered snarled vocals. The rest of the album flows and ebbs well with excellent variation across its massive 14 tracks including bouncy mosh tracks like 'Dead Ground', more epic based tracks like 'Beyond The Fall', and the more typical Orphange fare like the brilliant 'Prophecies Of Fame'. The new Orphange sound features a more prominent bass sound beefing up their typical riffing, and a vast improvement of female vocalist Rosan Van Der Aa who displays stunning range and versatility. Fans an new comers alike will love Driven and I highly recommend it to anyone as a strong and original album. Favourite Tracks – Black Magic Mirror ; The Sign ; The Prophecies Of Fame Mark – 9/10 |
 |
 |
| Orphanage |
 |
| Website |
 |
 |
 |