After nearly 30 years of dedicated service, Orange Goblin could have easily eased off the accelerator. However, despite never receiving the recognition they truly deserve, the Londoners’ stock has risen significantly in recent times, and Science, Not Fiction makes it plain that fading away was never an option for these dogged metal diehards. Buoyed by the recruitment of new bassist Harry Armstrong, whose work with the likes of Hangnail and The Earls Of Mars made him an ideal replacement for the departing Martyn Millard, the Goblin boys have thrown absolutely everything at their 10th studio album.
Orange Goblin have always exhibited a profound understanding of what makes heavy metal such a joyous phenomenon. Science, Not Fiction starts with the kind of balls-out, Sabbathian rumble that they have always had in their arsenal, but The Fire At The Centre Of The Earth Is Mine is more urgent, more intense and considerably gnarlier than any previous equivalent. Frontman Ben Ward’s voice has never sounded more authoritative – evidence, perhaps, of his recent, well- documented health transformation – and his comrades are high as a kite on revitalised chemistry.
That atmosphere of renewed vigour continues through the entire record. (Not) Rocket Science is an oven-ready anthem for the ages, with echoes of both Motörhead and Kyuss; Ascend The Negative revels in the power of positive thinking, over giant, stoner metal riffs and angular lead motifs; False Hope Diet is scythe- swinging blues rock fed through a psychedelic prog prism; and Cemetary Rats is a high-velocity, demonic biker brawl. From the grim, grinding shuffle of Gemini (Twins Of Evil) to the shape-shifting doom trip of End Of Transmission, every note speaks of a band in the rudest of health and on blistering form. Science, Not Fiction is a formidable show of strength from one of the greatest bands ever to do it. Orange fucking Goblin, baby. It’s not complicated.
Science, Not Fiction is out this Friday, July 19
