Argonauta Records (REX2322LP)
Orbiter is a stoner/doom metal band from Helsinki. They have been active for several years and played quite a lot of gigs too. I have previously reviewed their 2009 split 7" with Roadog (over here) and 12" (over here). The quartet has a female singer who fits in just perfectly. For heavy stoner-doom the music is pretty melodic and atmospheric. There are also some other influences, maybe occult/psych rock and even grunge, I guess.
The LP starts off with the slow, crushingly heavy "Silence Breaks". I am hooked! The next song "Beneath" goes in mid-tempo and also has some grunge vibes, maybe it's mainly the vocal melodies and harmonies. Nothing wrong with that, though! "Kolibri" is a short, beautiful instrumenal and then the heavy and moody title track that reminds me of later Black Sabbath stuff finishes off the A side. Great stuff!
Side B kicks off with "Raven Bones". It's another doomy and heavy song that has a cool tom beat in the verse. This reminds me a bit of Finnish occult doom band Mansion, who of course also have a great female singer. Then it's time to go instrumental and bit experimental with "Transmissions". Nice to have some trippy stuff in there as well! "Under Your Spell" is a touching, minimal acoustic number and then the band returns to some seriously heavy riffing with the final song "Last Call". Reminds me of Candlemass a bit, actually. Some 70s Sabbath stuff comes later on...What an excellent ending for a great album!
