Orchid - The Mouths of Madness (2013)

I know that there will be no shortage of butthurt denizens roaming the streets with identical complaints of "Orchid sound like Black Sabbath", yada fucking yada. Get over it. Please, just get the fuck over it. Orchid rocks and most importantly Orchid is doing a way better job at keeping the whole '70's occult rock vibe' alive than Sabbath is, especially if 'God is Dead?' is any indication, which it is, so there.

First off, the whole trip that Orchid is on is unquestionably genuine. From the lyrics to the artwork to the music itself. The intent is there. Orchid has had 40 some odd years of musical history to glean from in regards to where they are at today. They are obviously not concerned with reinventing the wheel, nor should they be.  The gift of music ultimately boils down to how it sounds and how it makes you feel. Somewhere along the way came this pretentious notion that "everything has to sound original". Sure, that's all groovy and grand when it does go down, but regardless of what our musical dictators tell us, music is about the vibe, not about building spaceships and flying off into outer space... well, I guess it is in a proverbial and metaphysical kind of way, but I digress! Yes, Orchid has vibes aplenty and that, my friends, is what it all boils down to. It does my heart good to listen to music that puts me in a 70's frame of mind. I guaran-goddamn-tee that the new Black Sabbath album aint gonna have shit on Orchid in that regard!

If you can find it in yourself to get off of your high horse and listen to Orchid's music for what it is, you will realize, quickly, what a strange and wonderful world it is that they've created here. In a time when everyone has their face collectively glued to a cell phone or some other mind altering contraption, it's a fucking relief and a pleasure to hear a band that sounds as if they were frozen in time. Hats off to ya, gents!