On its tenth album, ORANGE GOBLIN remains the same as they’ve always been; fun and entertaining to listen to in the short run, but lacking the extra ingredient necessary to get them over the hump into the next level. Bands and albums like this are always the hardest to review, as they are not bad by any stretch, but just not really memorable.
The GOBLIN sound remains true to itself here, a greasy kind of riff rock like MOTÖRHEAD meets MONSTER MAGNET. I will say this – they really make the attempt to give every song its own personality here. ‘(Not) Rocket Science’ is kind of a turbocharged MONSTER MAGNET style rocker while the spooky ‘Cemetery Rats’ builds gradually from a sparse piano intro to hard-charging metal. ‘False Hope Diet’ has a kind of grunge ALICE IN CHAINS groove while ‘The Fury Of A Patient Man’ and ‘The Justice Knife’ are fast-paced MOTÖRHEAD-ish bruisers.
It’s all executed well, but there’s just something about it all that strikes me as kind of boilerplate. Ben Ward’s vocals fit the music well enough, but just don’t seem to go any further. I know this might not sound fair, but to me, there’s something indefinable in the ORANGE GOBLIN sound that smacks of “good enough but not better”. Having said that, I can’t deny this will please long time fans, and that the band have stuck to their guns over the years.
Review By: Dr. Abner Mality
ORANGE GOBLIN
Science, Not Fiction
Peaceville