By Gruesome Greg
Hot on the heels of their early Rise Above reissues, Orange Goblin return with their first new album in almost five years. But this one isn’t so much of a blast from the past, An Eulogy… picking up where they left off with Healing Through Fire with those southern-style stoner grooves, though this one has a bit more of an epic sludge attack with some Mastodonic leanings on tunes like the opener, “Red Tide Rising.”
There is also a bit of a rough-around-the-edges, Motorhead heavy blues vibe on a couple of these tracks, Ben Ward channeling Lemmy with his sandpaper rasp. See “Stand for Something,” for instance, or “The Filthy and the Few.”
You’ll also find some mellower moments on here, like “Save Me from Myself,” which sounds like a raspier Kenny Wayne Sheppard number, but they’re balanced out with the heavy storm of tunes like “The Fog” or “Bishop’s Wolf.” Hey, variety is the spice of life, right?
If that’s the case, then this dish is one spicy meatball, kicking off 2012 with a badda-boom-badda-bing!
(Candlelight USA)
RATING: 8.5
