This is the fifth album from UK progressive rock band Black Orchid Empire.
Black Orchid Empire revealed themselves to be one of the best contemporary heavy/progressive rock bands around on 2023’s Tempus Veritas, and also showed their chops in the live environment at last year’s Mangata Festival. All of which is to say that the new 48-minute LORE promises great things. Does it deliver?
Yep. LORE is great. There is your review, right there.
Okay, so Black Orchid Empire deal in crisp, snappy songs, with big choruses and melodic hooks. Their music is catchy as fook, but also deals in substance, depth, and emotion. Black Orchid Empire are the real deal. If you’re in the market for actual songs that leave a very pleasant aftertaste, then this is for you.
LORE‘s mix of technical nuance and accessible songcraft is a compelling and effective one. The music uses feeling and emotive layers to provide the listener with a superlative experience, via a mix of constructive intricacy and straightforward hooks. In other words, Black Orchid Empire blend complexity and simplicity seamlessly, and this collection of 12 songs makes an impact. All of the performances are on point, but as usual the singer’s voice is a highlight. All of the musical components sound clear and strong, yet his voice is clearly an exceptional asset to the band.
Black Orchid Empire have all of the tunes, it seems. LORE is massive. How this band aren’t far larger than they are is beyond me. When it comes to contemporary song-focused heavy rock, progressive rock, alternative rock, whatever you want to term it, Black Orchid Empire are simply one of the best in the business. Honestly, even on first listen, this is an album that you just feel is something clearly better than most ostensibly similar acts release. In the waters that this sort of music swims, around so many plastic-sounding and generic bands, Black Orchid Empire just stand out. It’s like they’ve lit an enormous beacon that flashes words like HONEST!, EMOTION!, SONGS! and so on in the faces of the much larger bands that have only a quarter of Black Orchid Empire’s talent. This is a band that have the songs, have the sound, and have the presence. LORE is a stunner.
Essential listening.
Wonderbox Metal 