ORB’s cassette tape Womb transports the listener to a suburban bedroom where longhaired teens in long-sleeved black shirts sit in a haze of sweet smoke and blast Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. ORB though are not your typical metal heads. The Melbourne three piece are made up of members of garage and pop bands Hierophants, Zig Zag and Frowning Clouds but on their debut tape they’ve managed to channel the power of Ozzy, bong hits and riffs.
To be released on Tasmanian label Heavy Chains in December, Womb is a crushing and awesome listen of pure buzz.
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We caught up the band’s Zak Olsen to find out more about ORB and their sound.
Noisey: One of the guys from Krakatau suggested that it takes non-metal dudes to really understand what was so unique about early 70s Sabbath.
Zak Olsen: The thing with Sabbath is they became a product of the beast they created. They’re a heavy rock/psych band with a darker aesthetic, and that’s really appealing to metalheads. I suppose listening to Sabbath with non-metal ears, you focus on the other things besides how fast the solos can go. We’re taking away the metal, so we’re left with the heavy. That’s not to say we totally dislike metal, but it’s just not in our genetic make up to play it.
Did the band start as a fun project from your other bands or did it always have some direction from the beginning?
We wanted to make a strict doom band for fun, but it got extremely boring, and it’s got too many boundaries. Without thinking about it, the songs took on more of a Dad rock/hard rock/psych/prog sound. We’re open to playing anything we like, really. It’s just different and exciting for us to play in drop D with a fuzz pedal.
How did you hook up with Heavy Chains?
We heard a release they put out by a band called Tarot. They’re slightly more in line with what we we’re doing, something my Dad could listen too, so I just emailed Heavy Chains and they were keen straight away.
What is the best Sabbath riff/track?
“Sweet Leaf “or “Who Are You”
If you are in Melbourne get along to one of these upcoming ORB shows:
Nov 22 at the Tote
Nov 29 at Dive Bar
Dec 6 at Longplay
This article originally appeared on Noisey Australia.
