Reviews: Orbit Culture, Supreme Mystic, Vovk, Sceptor (Mark Young, Rich Piva, Cherie Curtis & Simon Black)

Orbit Culture - Death Above Life (Century Media) [Mark Young]

I’d put this off until I was completely sure of what I wanted to say about this, which has meant that it is late getting to the printers. I’d reviewed Descent back in 2023 and wasn’t that mithered for it. On the whole it was ok, and since then they have continued along generating more interest as being one of the de facto bands to go to in extreme metal and as a result when this dropped in my folder, I was interested to hear what growth has taken place between now and then.

I think that I am going to be in the minority with this, but I don’t hear anything on this that blows my mind and in fact I don’t hear any difference between this and Descent. What I hear are guitars that fizzy (yep, that is a technical term) that drop typical arrangements that I’ve heard before. Inferna, as an example, is the opener and as a result should lay waste to you as a listener. It should be something that rips all the way through and it absolutely should not repeat itself in order to shoehorn a singalong moment into it. 

Halfway into this I’m flagging, so when they bring the big riffs out after this, I’ve mentally pressed skip. The bit at the end should have been at the start and then cut the song in half. And don’t get me started on the cleans. Bloodhound is all fire and fury starting off with some exemplar drumming from Christopher Wallerstedt (who shines right this) but seems to flounder with repetitive lyrics and those fizzy guitars. It has the mechanical stop/start arrangement, which is fine, but there is something I’m not getting on with. Its heavy for heavy’s sake, normally that is ok but as a 5-minute song it has nothing to say.

Two songs in and I’m not feeling it, but I promised the boss I would complete this task. Inside The Waves sees a vocal style switch from the extreme to that dirtyish, harder than normal metal singer style. Its designed, I’m sure to provide them with live engagement with a crowd such is the way that this is put together. The extreme vocal style switches in and out and it feels that in doing so both styles are done a disservice. 

If you want to do that not quite clean style (i.e. Slipknot as an example) then just do it all the way through. I’d respect that a lot more. I’m going to be completely honest now, I’ve had this on a repeated playlist (with others) over the last two weeks and every time one of these came up it didn’t last long in the car. I’ve attempted to find love for it but I can’t. Sorry.

The Tales Of War is pretty decent, but its nothing new and that guitar sound is getting on my nerves, it’s not defined enough and this music needs a sound that is like a bomb going off, and you can apply that across the remainder of the songs, Hydra for example is a slow crushing dance whilst the title track, Death Above Life just kind of lurches long and I’d expect this of all songs on here to just slay. And that’s just it, they don’t. 

The songs are heavy and reflect the ‘modern’ approach (it says this on the bio) and that is fine but applying any approach requires the songs behind it to resemble a blitzkrieg. I expect bands like this to just batter you from the off, and this doesn’t happen until The Storm, which Is just primal in its execution and as result of this is just spot on. Heading out to the end, they finish with The Path I Walk, which sees them offer up a restrained approach which has it falling into near ballad territory. It’s a bold statement by them to go out and wrap the album up like this.

I’m disappointed. I don’t see what others are seeing here and it has to be a case of it’s you not us that is the issue here. There is no denying that in there they have good ideas and you know that they can play like demons. There’s something missing, at least for me in how they translate those ideas into finished songs but what do I know? Have a listen and make your own mind up. 6/10

Supreme Mystic - Kala Rupa (MahaVishnu Records/Third House Communications) [Rich Piva]

Detroit, Michigan is where the trippy hardcore of Supreme Mystic emanates from. I hear part Life Of Agony, part Merauder, part Shelter, part 108, and part Stone Temple Pilots. Yeah, that’s a lot. There is also this psych thing you get too on their new record, Kala Rupa. Just to be clear, I am very, very here for it.

The opener, Stealing Beauty, has this STP Purple played by a post hardcore band thing going on and it is very interesting. Whispers Of A Nameless Fear has some serious Life Of Agony Soul Searching Sun action happening, but is a bit sloppier, which is not a dig, but more of a nod to the DIY feel of this project. Halo Of Vultures leans into the hardcore side of the band, and I picture quite the circle pit starting up in a little Detroit dive bar that does not have the room for it. Supreme Mystic is not afraid of the 90s alternative, and even brings harmonies (!) on Colorblind. I really like the addition of the acoustic guitar on this one. I mentioned Shelter, and here we are with Invoking Auspiciousness. If you know, you know, as the kids say. 

The song Supreme Mystic, by Supreme Mystic, misses on the trifecta of having the album title being the same as well, but doesn’t miss on being this cool LoA/ Merauder hybrid thing that harkens back to filthy New York clubs seeing those bands with Biohazard and Type O Negative, except these guys are from Detroit. Speaking of Type O, where did that organ come from? The band is not afraid to get deep, with the spoken word opening of the Ugly era LoA worship track Transmigration of the Soul. You get more keys too, which is a nice addition to their sound. Jewels On the Hood Of A Serpent has 90s NYHC vibes all over it, while the title track closer sounds like when Suicidal Tendencies went less thrash and more psych but still rocked. 

Krishna-Core lives!!! Don’t get me wrong, I am digging this, but from a sound quality standpoint it sounds more like a demo than a polished album, which, for some, may be an issue, but it is not for me. The drum sound is not great, even if the drummer is, which is tough, given how up front they are in the mix. This was fun. Yeah, it is raw. Yeah, it is all over the place. Yeah, it has some demo qualities, but there is this heart and realness to Supreme Mystic that only listening to Kala Rupa will your truly understand. Some serious potential from these Detroit boys, even if they sound like they are from NYC. 7/10

Vovk - Litera (Kontrabass) [Cherie Curtis]

Vovk, is a Ukrainian progressive rock band who has been around 10 years and Litera – their new one, showcases that experience. Though it’s only 7 tracks, it's a feast for the ears. Litera is teeming with relentless emotional rawness complimented with stunningly melodic and powerful vocals. Litera, without being heavy in the traditional sense is heavy in terms of themes and musical texture.

Mur is a personal favourite. It starts gentle with glittering keyboards, bassy drums and near whispered lyrics which slowly builds. Its melancholy and has a catchy rhythm which will linger around in your head even if you don’t understand the language. 

Vovk to me here feels familiar and reminds me of early Deftones in the way of vocal style. Tyhr starts off louder with shouted vocals harsher in tone than the others which shakes us from our stupor just in case we were getting bored and what I especially liked was the cheeky bass and lead guitar back and forth which added a dynamic quality near the end to build to an explosive ending.

Litera is an album for a grey and foggy day, its ambient and emotional with smooth and complex instrumentals with sharp clean vocals. Litera has nice range there’s something for everyone. Although to me personally Vovk with this one feels mainstream, there’s a high level of skill and thoughtfulness present throughout. It’s enjoyable and I will be revisiting this one. 8/10

Sceptor – Wrath Of The Gods (Metalizer Records) [Simon Black]

Sceptor are a traditional Metal band hailing from the Mannheim area of Germany and have been at this on and off for about 15 years. Their history is a very chequered one. Their debut album Take Command! was way back in 2012, but the band folded in 2014 before reforming at possibly the most challenging of times for their sophomore Rise To The Light in 2021. 

During that time the lineup has been something of a rollercoaster, with none of the original members of the band still being a part of the project. Most tragically original then returning singer Bob Mitchell suffered a stroke recently, and in many ways, this really feels like a new band trying to find its feet.

Musically this straight ahead by the numbers metal ain’t doing anything original, and although it has a strong sense of energy it is somewhat lacking in impact for the most part. New singer Florian Reimann has a good top end range, but some of the melody lines are too close to the instrumental ones, so it feels like he’s just filling in over the top. 

This all feels a little rushed and unfinished, with the arrangements lacking a punch, and desperately in need of a floor-filler to win an audience over with. To be fair the album does improve towards the end, with tracks like Poseidon standing taller than its peers, but overall, I’m struggling to get enthusiastic about this. 

The production does not help. The stringed instruments are a little flat in the mix, with the drums coming across well, but the vocals being a little too clean and polished on the mix where perhaps a bit more edge and rawness would have suited the material better, and we get this with whoever is providing guest vocals on the album closer Throne Of The Damned. 

Sadly, I don’t think most listeners are going to wait until the two closing tracks in today’s attention deficit age, which is sad because had the album kept the consistency of the closers, it would have been something to write home about. 5/10