Whether you’re looking to transcend to another plane of consciousness, experience a more horrifying take on classic horror movie dialogue or simply put something on in the background to tune out to Orme has you covered.
The UK doom/ritual ambient/drone/heavy psych trio present us with a monstrously long debut offering with their self-titled debut, coming in at a whopping 96 minutes. I’ll be completely honest with you, this album won’t be for everyone, in fact I would go so far as to call it polarising. There will be those that fully understand what the band is going for and appreciate the quality of what they have managed to create and there will be others that find it boring or find that it drives them mildly insane. Little do these people know that that minor insanity is all part of the album’s charm.
The release has a way of distorting the very fabric of time for the listener, its extremely drawn-out tracks are almost maddening as without looking at the play time you have no way of knowing how far through a song you are. The atmosphere created during this time is top notch, being somewhere between beautiful, haunting and mind spacey/psychedelic. There are very clear horror undertones at play, not just thematically, but in essence and atmosphere. The minimalism used to create music that is so impactful is a true skill in itself and shows that the band understands the power of both noise and silence.
While both tracks are powerful in their own way, I would have to say that my favourite hands down is Nazarene. There are two main reasons for this, firstly I prefer the instrumentals, they’re a little more apparent in their doom and psych influences, slightly less ritual ambient/drone focused. Secondly and most importantly the vocals on the track are absolutely awesome, literally gave me shivers. Be patient though, it takes around ten minutes or so for them to feature, but the wait is more than worth it. The band recite Damien’s (Sam Niel) incredible speech from Damien III: The Final Conflict. Their delivery is simply incredible. The raw passion and biting fury and spite that comes across as the speech is recited is some of my favourite vocal work so far in 2023. For anyone who has never seen the movie or heard the speech it’s well worth your time, in fact I’ve included it for you below:
Oh my Father, Lord of Silence, Supreme God of Desolation, though mankind reviles yet aches to embrace, strengthen my purpose to save the world from a second ordeal of Jesus Christ and his grubby mundane creed. Two thousand years have been enough. Show man instead the raptures of Thy kingdom. Infuse in him the grandeur of melancholy, the divinity of loneliness, the purity of evil, the paradise of pain. What perverted imagination has fed man the lie that Hell festers in the bowels of the Earth? There is only one Hell, the leaden monotony of human existence. There is only one Heaven, the ecstasy of my Father’s kingdom.
Nazarene, charlatan, what can you offer humanity? Since the hour you vomited forth from the gaping wound of a woman, you’ve done nothing but drown man’s soaring desires in a deluge of sanctimonious morality. You’ve inflamed the pubertal mind of youth with your repellent dogma of original sin. And now you absolve in denying them the ultimate joy beyond death by destroying me? But you will fail, Nazarene, as you have always failed. We were both created in man’s image, but while you were born of an impotent God, I was conceived of a jackal. Born of Satan, the desolate one, the nail. Your pain on the cross was but a splinter compared to the agony of my father. Cast out of heaven, the fallen angel, banished, reviled. I will drive deeper the thorns into your rancid carcass, you profaner of vices. Cursed Nazarene. Satan, I will avenge thy torment, by destroying the Christ forever.
Nazarene, charlatan, what can you offer humanity? Since the hour you vomited forth from the gaping wound of a woman, you’ve done nothing but drown man’s soaring desires in a deluge of sanctimonious morality. You’ve inflamed the pubertal mind of youth with your repellent dogma of original sin. And now you absolve in denying them the ultimate joy beyond death by destroying me? But you will fail, Nazarene, as you have always failed. We were both created in man’s image, but while you were born of an impotent God, I was conceived of a jackal. Born of Satan, the desolate one, the nail. Your pain on the cross was but a splinter compared to the agony of my father. Cast out of heaven, the fallen angel, banished, reviled. I will drive deeper the thorns into your rancid carcass, you profaner of vices. Cursed Nazarene. Satan, I will avenge thy torment, by destroying the Christ forever.
And it shall come to pass that in the end days the beast shall reign 100 score and 30 days and nights. And the faithful shall cry unto the Lord, ‘Wherefore art thou in the day of evil?’ And the Lord shall hear their prayers. And out of the Angel Isle he shall bring forth the Deliverer; the holy Lamb of God who shall do battle with the beast. And shall destroy him.” Only it won’t be the beast that is destroyed, it’ll be the Nazarene.
The second track Onward To Sarnath is much more of a slow burn and spends the majority of the song building up gradual tension. The haunting female vocals add a tonne of atmosphere to the ritual elements at play. Eventually at around the 40 min mark things really open up and we get some absolutely killer psychedelic doom infused guitar work.
Overall, the album was a fascinating listen and one that I recommend people take at least once. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if people end up coming back to the vocal segment on Damien repeatedly, I know I did. A solid debut from a project that I hope to see more of in the future.
Listen to and order the album:
