Music / Reviews
Review: Orbit Culture/Defects, Exchange
Not to be confused with gnarly Irish punk mob The Defects, young Britmetallers Defects nonetheless have something of the punk spirit about them and give a good account of themselves. The chap with the enormous, elaborate mohican down the front certainly seems to be enjoying them.
The clean and growled vocals are strong, as is the drumming, though the guitars sound like angry wasps in this thin mix. Defects’ lyrical concerns seem to chime with the usual Gen Z guff about positivity and overcoming adversity, though they do have a slightly slower song called Dream Awake, which their frontman describes as being about living in the real world rather than retreating into the digital realm.
is needed now More than ever
He then asks everyone to produce their mobile phones. Are we going to be told to dump these in a big heap and stamp on them? No such luck. It’s the usual ‘wave them in the air’ gambit.
At the end of their set, he dives into the packed crowd and orchestrates a circle pit around him. This seems a tad foolhardy, though everyone gets out alive.
What is it with our new Swedish NATOchums and melodic death metal? They practically invented the sub-genre back in the early 1990s, with the Gothenburg sound of bands like At the Gates and In Flames. The former brought melodic death metal to Bristol for the first time back in 1996 when they played the Full Moon on Stokes Croft in the venue’s former, scuzzier incarnation. Since then, acts like Amon Amarth, Avatar and Arch Enemy have achieved huge success by developing and refining the form.
Orbit Culture are the latest band to generate a serious buzz, after touring with the likes of Machine Head and Fear Factory. This first headline tour has completely sold out, though booking them into such small venues was probably intended to underline their increasing popularity.
It’s not long before the Exchange has turned into an authentic Swedish sauna and even Mr. Mohican is visibly wilting in the heat. Alas, the sound is rather muddy to begin with and doesn’t improve much during the course of the evening. That’s quite a disadvantage for such precise and technical music, which requires a clear mix to achieve its full impact.
But, hey, bludgeon works too and this audience is onside from the opening notes of Black Mountain. Founder and lead vocalist Niklas Karlsson certainly has a mighty roar but proves equally adept at clean vocals, switching effortlessly between the two styles. There’s also more than a hint of the James Hetfields about his approach and it comes as no surprise that Orbit Culture have previously played the occasional Metallica cover.
Crowd favourites like North Star of Nija, The Shadowing and, especially, From the Inside provoke big singalongs, though there’s an unfortunate hiatus caused by equipment failure, during which we’re treated to a brief, impromptu drum solo and the thrilling sight of bassist Fredrik Lennartsson drinking a beer.
Being on a tiddly independent label has made Orbit Culture’s music hard to find, but now they’ve just signed to the relatively gargantuan Century Media the band’s profile should rise accordingly. The stonking While We Serve from their recent The Forgotten EP and the set-closing Vultures of North from 2023’s Descent suggest they’re in a good place to deliver the classic album necessary to advance their career to the next level.
All pix by Mike Evans
Read more: Metal & Prog Picks: March 2024
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
