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.
