Orange Goblin - Thieving From The House Of God
Riseabove - RIS0ECD046 - 2004
By Paddy Walsh
Stoner rock. Rock which one gets stoned to. Get a bong, joint, pipe, whatever, light it, stick on
Kyuss'
Welcome to Sky Valley and you will know what it's all about.
Kyuss have truly left a legacy of bands behind them. Some good, some awful, and even a few great ones.
Orange Goblin are definitely one of the best post-
Kyuss stoner bands out there, and their new long-player
Thieving From the House of God is a right old riot.
You should know the score by now; big, monstrous sabbath-ish riffs put through an untold amount of fuzz. It's always about the riffs with this kind of stuff, and what separates the men from the stoner infants is the ability to pen a truly memorable riff.
Orange Goblin come out tops here, there are some excellent tunes on
Thieving... Check out the driving drone of 'Some You Win, Some You lose' or the blues-fest that is 'Round Up The Horses'. The songs aren't as memorable as those on the band's meisterwerk
The Big Black, but the improved production certainly works to their favour, particularly in the vocal department. Vocalist Ben Ward puts in a career best here, sounding more forceful and better than ever. His voice strongly resembles King Buzzo from
The Melvins at times, which is of course no bad thing.
There are few surprises to be found on
Thieving From The House Of God, save for a few instances of inspiration, such as the surprising inclusion of soaring female vocals on 'Black Egg'. Even more surprisingly, this works. But fans of the band will surely see this album as their best since
The Big Black, and for the uninitiated, if you ever wondered what
The Melvins would sound like without the noodling and more fuzz, then
Orange Goblin are for you.
8.0/10
Official Rise Above Records website
Official Orange Goblin website
