Into Orbit – Unearthing (Review)

Into Orbit are a post-metal band from New Zealand. This is their second album.

Unearthing is just over 40 minutes long and combines post-metal/rock, progressive metal/rock, doom, drone and ambient.

The music is instrumental, eschewing a vocalist in favour of concentrating on expansive and involving soundscapes that instantly feel like something luxurious when you first dip into it.

Unearthing strikes me as a cross between Russian Circles, Explosions in the Sky, Cloudkicker and Tool in some ways, although this should only really be seen as a starting point for the music that the band create.

The sounds Into Orbit produce can be both beautiful and heavy, depending on what they want to achieve, although there’s definitely more of the former rather than the latter. There are some truly resplendent post-metal melodies here, backed up by atmosphere that’s sometimes so tangible you feel you can reach out and touch it.

It’s clear each track has been given a lot of consideration to how it flows, twists and unfolds. Full of depth, nuance and texture, the songs on Unearthing each have their own character and mood, which is something I like.

These songs show a band that have an advanced grasp of composition, dynamics and structure. The album has clearly been lovingly written and crafted by people with a passion for atmospheric, emotive music.

Into Orbit are one of the better examples of instrumental post-metal/rock out there at the moment, and Unearthing is a joy to experience.

Highly recommended.