Release Date: November 11th 2023. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD.
Realms - Tracklisting
Dawn
Cycles
Badlands
Escape
Bloodlines
The Dust
Trapped
Awakening
Realms
Members
Jeremy Isaacson (Guitar/Vocals)
Brett Southard (Drums)
Bryan Sedey (Guitar/keys)
Justin Mantooth (Bass)
Review
Doom/Sludge/Post-Metallers Orphans Of Doom return with their third album Realms and it could see the band become one of the future titans of Post-Metal their first two albums boldly hinted at. However, Orphans Of Doom haven’t left their Psychedelic Stoner Metal roots behind as it seems they’ve only enhanced them for the better whilst bringing a classic Twin Guitar led attack reminiscent of Thin Lizzy and Mastodon throughout the whole album.
Whilst Realms is mostly a Post-Metal driven release that doesn’t stop Orphans Of Doom bringing an addictive Stoner Metal melody to the album within the quieter and mellower parts of the album that have a more daring Psychedelic and Post-Rock flow. The vocals are constantly harsh and of the growling variety. However, they’re easy to understand despite the aggressive nature of Jeremy’s vocals. There’s an epic sense of storytelling within this album that has a more mature and grown-up element compared to their previous albums,
Orphans Of Doom play a brooding style of Sludge/Post-Metal on the albums opening tracks of Down, Cycles and Badlands with the music changing into a metallic style of complex sounding melodies with the sludgy guitars maintaining an outlandish Progressive Metal drive. The lyrics contained within these tracks have a deft sense of realism to them which I was instantly nodding or headbanging within agreement to.
Waves of Psych Rock and Post-Rock combine for some of the earliest standout moments of the album with Orphans Of Doom playing a more Science Fiction inspired style of music. My favourite aspect of this album is where the band adds the vibrant Thin Lizzy influenced dual guitars which allows Realms to be more Riff-centric dominated to showcase a different side to Orphans Of Doom.
Though, don’t forget that Orphans Of Doom are a Post-Metal band first and the majority of the album is an exercise in SONIC experimentation which allows the band to add deafening levels of Doom Metal, Stoner Metal and even Thrash based breakdowns and beatdowns. This helps Orphans Of Doom to solidify the different styles of heaviness that becomes more daring as time goes by.
Other standout tracks to include are: Escape, Bloodlines, The Dust and Realms with Orphans Of Doom showcasing a more mature outlook on how they deliver and play their music which brings some of the album's standout instrumental moments and thrilling guitar solos. Jeremy’s vocals have a sense of violent calmness to them even when they become ever more outlandish and aggressive.
Realms has wonderful production values which was handled solely by bassist Justin Mantooth who excels on producing, recording, mastering and mixing duties. Justin has recorded for other wonderful Sludge Metal artists such as Sonmuri and Druids and I can see Justin lending his talents to other great names within the underground scene mainly due to the incredible work he puts into this record.
Though Realms is a real team effort with Jeremy, Brett, Bryan and Justin creating their best work to date that draws upon the best sounds, ideas and themes the Sludge, Doom, Stoner and Post-Metal scenes and still being so breathtakingly original in its own right.
As I said earlier within this review, Realms offers Orphans Of Doom the perfect chance to become future TITANS of the Post-Metal scene. This album has a dynamically powerful sound and sees Orphans Of Doom delivering another Album Of The Year contender.
Need I say more…
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Orphans Of Doom for the promo.
Realms will be available to buy from all good digital stockists from November 11th 2023.
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