The British band comes back and strong with an emphatic album and an interesting title: ‘Science, Not Fiction’. Well, definitely more interesting is their tunes, where Ben Ward & Co. are in great shape, with some old school riffs. Apparently, the whole concept of this record brings us back in time, in the band’s chronology, not necessarily in a nostalgic way but they seem to have this ‘old’ feeling in regard to the songwriting and the sound in particular. Perfect examples on this are ‘(Not) Rocket Science’ and ‘Ascend the Negative’ where the groove overflows, a trademark of the band. This album brings forward Motörhead (no surprise here!), a major influence of course of OG, throughout their career. These guys were never afraid of exploring new territories or trying things a bit different, always filtering those while staying true to their core values, influences and what keeps them true to their music. ‘False Hope Diet’ and ‘Cemetery Rats’ fall within this spectrum of slight changes; however, you never deceive yourself that this is something else than OG. Ben Ward is definitely doing (as always) a fantastic job and sounds better than ever! Joe Hoare is playing absolutely great riffs, with his fuzzy, heavy and gratifying guitars. Harry Armstrong (the latter addition to the band) and Chris Turner provide a very solid and robust rhythm section, and they are exactly what the band needs for what they play so well.
Of course the album has more classic heavy metal influences too, for example ‘Gemini (Twins of Evil)’. It’s such a joy to hear this band for so many years, for being consistent and convincing, delivering the goods in their own unique way, blending their influences and inspirations, from Black Sabbath, Monster Magnet, Motörhead, etc. and, also, if not a direct or indirect influence of course (you could argue both ways), ‘The Justice Knife’ brings some Clutch as well, definitely from the heavier perspective, but the groove and the overall attitude is there.
‘Science, Not Fiction’ brings back the smile on the OG fanbase, but could easily attract and appeal to further audiences, if of course you can listen without prejudice and you like heavy metal, heavy rock (whatever the label, you can add it) and can trust 4 heavy rockers to blast your stereo.
8/10
Antonis Mantzavinos
You may follow Orange Goblin on Facebook, Instagram and check their Official website.
