Orthodox - Let It Take Its Course (Album Review)
Orthodox - Let It Take Its Course
Released: February 7th, 2020
Line-up:
Adam Easterling // vocals
Austin Evans // guitar
Shiloh Krebs // bass
Mike White // drums
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Nashville is famous as a music city, but it is generally country music that the city is synonymous with. Like most cities, however, there is a thriving heavy music scene and Straight Edge band Orthodox are leading the charge in this emerging scene.
If you like your heavy music very heavy and dark, then this release is for you. The album starts with ‘Remorse’ which is one minute of distortion, growls and creepy whispering and then it is into the intense double kicker drumming of ‘Obsinity’. These opening songs give a perfect introduction into what is to come on the rest of the album. The band say the album draws on influences such as System Of A Down, Gojira and Slipknot, the latter of which can be heard in this song.
The songs on this album are full of the menacing, growling vocals and ‘Why Are You Here?’ is a perfect example of this. This song is relentless and furious with the vocals have a Korn feel to them. This is also the case with ‘Leave’ where the vocals are almost nightmare inducing. The song says “God has forgotten you here today / Lord giveth and I taketh away”, “bet you wish you could run / but where would you go” and “I won’t let you leave” and you wouldn't want to be whoever vocalist Adam Easterling is speaking to. The first single ‘I Can Show You God’ keeps up this fury and knowing that this album is about the revenge Easterling would like to exact on people who have abused/assaulted his loved ones makes the lyrics and feel of the songs even more chilling.
Two absolute highlights on the album come from ‘Cut’ and ‘Look at Me’. While starting with the usual flurry of drumming and guitars, ‘Cut's’ verses give way to cleaner vocals from Easterling, but then the chorus goes back to the growls and wall of instruments. This song has a Disturbed type of feel to it. ‘Look at Me’ bursts back into the intensity, but the chorus is incredibly groovy and will have listeners dancing and stank-facing all the place. This song is definitely for the Korn lovers out there with nu-metal guitar squeals throughout.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM9pXyP1lCs&w=640&h=360]
Title track ‘Let It Take Its Course’ is another dark and unsettling offering that Easterling says ties pieces of the rest of the album together. The album tells a bleak narrative about making a moral decision after learning a loved one has been abused. Do you take revenge and hurt the abuser, and does that make you as bad as them? The very last song on the album ‘Wrongs’ is a beautiful piano number with gruff vocals and is such a drastic change from the rest of the album; it will make listeners raise their eyebrows in surprise. The song says “I'm terrified of the wrongs I'd do for you / Because there's no wrongs I wouldn't do", which sums up the feeling and narrative of the entire album. This song is gorgeous, but it just comes out of nowhere and is almost jarring and confusing because of the difference. A bit of a lead-in and change of pace in the previous song would have helped this transition more and made it feel like it belonged there instead of just feeling like it was tacked on.
Orthodox has gone through several lineup changes, but this album sees Easterling (who is an original member) joined by Austin Evans providing the squealing guitars, Mike White with the relentless drumming and Shiloh Krebs on bass. The quartet are all incredible musicians in their own right and come together incredibly to make a dark and intense album. The band say they wanted this album to push the boundaries of the nu-metal/hardcore/metalcore pigeon hole they have ended up in and there is much more variety in this release compared to their 2017 release Sounds of Loss. Where it was mainly intense and very heavy, Let It Take Its Course has many twists and turns and just when the listener thinks it’s only growls, incessant drumming and guitars, the album flips this on its head and spits out something completely different.
This album is angry and gritty and will take the listener to dark places while still being incredibly enjoyable. This album would be perfect to put on after a day of putting up with a dickhead boss or just anyone who’s mistreated you. The listener will relate to the album’s anger and come away feeling cleansed of bad feelings. Orthodox have already started recording their next album and have no plans to slow down their relentless touring. This is a band on a warpath and people should be jumping on that path with them.
Orthodox - Let It Take Its Course tracklisting:
- Remorse
- Obsinity
- Why Are You Here?
- Leave
- I Can Show You God
- Cut
- Look at Me
- Then It Ends
- Let It Take Its Course
- The Presence
- Wrongs
Rating: 7 1/2 out of 10 menacing whispers
Let It Take Its Course is Out February 7th via Unbeaten Records. Get it here
Review by Caitlin MacDonald(@cait_2tone)
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzkjDp_eMXk&w=853&h=480]
