Orange Goblin – “Healing Through Fire”

Upon receipt of Healing Through Fire by Orange Goblin, I looked at the cover and title and was thoroughly expecting to be writing a review on a Death metal band, especially with song titles such as “Beginners Guide To Suicide” and “Hot Knives And Open Sores.” Man, was I surprised when I popped it in my player and was greeted by good and raucous, ruff-around-the-edges, straight forward Metal. There are no pretenses here, this disc is not super polished and glossy but it seriously kicks ass.

Slow burning, riff driven tunes with tons of dirty fuzzy guitars drive this disc and make it heavy as hell. Every track on the Healing Through Fire begs to be played live; I imagine this would be one hell of a band to catch at a small club or theatre. The crowd must go absolutely wild.

One thing to make note of here and something not seen very much in the metal world is the long form jam songs. Orange Goblin not only includes some of these on the record, but they do so successfully. The last song on the record, “Beginners Guide To Suicide,” includes an extended play, free form jam that not only includes great guitar licks and drums but a very well played harmonica.

I really enjoyed just about every tune on here but the ones that stand out the most are “Hot Knives And Open Sores”, “Hounds Ditch” and “Vagrant Stomp”. All of which are good straight forward rockers. “Mortlake (Dead Water)” is a brief mellow acoustic interlude of sorts that provides a respite of sorts, allowing the listener to gain his composure and his breath before the band launches into a full on assault on what I think might be the best tune on the record, “They Come Back (Harvest Of Skulls).”

The old adage, never judge a book by its cover most definitely applies here and despite what I was originally expecting, what I heard was a very good metal record that I absolutely enjoyed listening to.

Track Listing:

01. The Ballad Of Solomon Eagle
02. Vagrant Stomp
03. The Ale House Braves
04. Cities Of Frost
05. Hot Knives And Open Sores
06. Hounds Ditch
07. Mortlake (Dead Water)
08. They Come Back (Harvest Of Skulls)
09. Beginners Guide To Suicide

Run Time: 43:49
Release Date: June 26, 2007