Orchid's Curse

Whenever one sees song titles with adjectives in parentheses following the main title it’s clear the band is either pompous as hell or are striving to make music transcending the vacuity of much prosaism being produced in this climate of infinite dissemination.

Voices by Canadian Orchid’s Curse opens with the melodic and accumulating ‘Above Moyobamba {euphoria}’, lulling the uninitiated listener into a false sense of temperate staidness. This is quickly sandblasted into oblivion as the subtly titled ‘The Delicate Art of Dying {despair}’ screams out of church doors like a rabid werewolf with a fast drum machine. The energy is inevitably impossible to maintain, but Orchid’s Curse do well in managing to negotiate the initial power through multiple song sections without entropy exerting too great a grip.

There are definitely some much-adorned hardcore guitar breaks, but, for the most part, Voices is blessed with some very fine examples, and thus isn’t weighed down too heavily under the mass of the genre’s clichés. Some monstrously fine examples of sweet riffage occur in ‘The Workhorse Walk Alone {regret}’ and ‘The Cold Whisper {empathy},’ guaranteed to get even the most seasoned and critical headbanger to remove the neck-brace.


There is a certain deathcore/hardcore mix going on here: the vocals are certainly more a propulsion of yelps and screams as opposed to the brash bark of something death-inclined; however, riffs occasionally rattle by with extreme rapidity, the incessant attack of which certainly has a deathcore bent. This is very much a post-listening analysis, postulating and pigeon-holing for a reader to get an idea of the approximate ‘sound’ of Orchid’s Curse. Really, this is doing them a severe injustice. I don’t hear deathcore or hardcore, I actually hear a band forming and playing how they want to (also why I feel frequent name-dropping and alluding to other bands is somewhat of a misnomer in reviews.) Orchid’s Curse achieve what only accomplished bands can: they transcend the trademarks of genres perhaps attached to them and make music instead.

The power of Voices: The Tales of Broken Men is diminished by the weak drum sound and lurid lead guitar tone. This, in tandem with the occasionally sloppy performance synchronization (speed only sounds fast when one can hear the space in between) does tarnish what is overall a markedly convincing album. It would be very interesting to see this band given room to expand further and a producer who can do them justice. - Alt-Sounds (UK)

Many bands declare themselves the meeting place between the metallic and punk rock sub-genres. Few embrace those influences deeply enough to live and breathe them while still allowing innate inventiveness to shine through, creating something of magnificence and brutality. Orchid's Curse are one of those rare bands. Drawing influences from everywhere, including thrash metal's barbed energy, both hardcore and death metal vocal patterns, and even some guttural, Pantera-esque rhythmic dexterity, Voices: the Tales of Broken Men is a wonderfully expanding exercise in fusing unique drive with welcome inspiration. Thick, brutal, aggressive and borderline cacophonous, at times, Voices is relentlessly engaging and explosive while maintaining a decisively melodic essence. Factoring in some prodigious guitar noodling only Dethklok can usually pull off, these ten tracks are so beastly and dynamic they're like mainlining a turkey baster full of adrenaline and following it up with an energy drink taken rectally.
(Diminished Fifth) - Exclaim Magazine

"you'll be hard pressed to find a better (relatively) new band making this type of wholesome hardcore"
-Metal Storm - Metal Storm

“an impressive mix of lightning-quick, well-balanced harmonies, impeccable shredding, booming, primitive drumbeats and surprisingly thoughtful lyrics.”
-HERE[NB] (Live Show review, Saint John, NB) - here[NB]

“My expectations were not only exceeded, but they were shot out of cannon and hit a brick wall with the velocity of a .357 Magnum. Their previous effort, Goodbye is When The Casket Closes, was a thick and meaty slab of At The Gates worship, but Voices leave that record in the dust.”
-G! Magazine - G! Magazine

“Voices… offers ten tracks of pure unadulterated heaviness from one of the Maritimes best up and coming acts.”
-MusicNerd.ca - MusicNerd.ca

“Voices: The Tales of Broken Men is a huge step forward and progression for the band. It’s obvious that the members of Orchid’s Curse spent time listening to prog-metal and prog-rock in between writing for their first album and this one. Not
that they’ve eschewed all of their previous metallic ways, quite the contrary, they’ve embraced and built upon an already solid foundation”
-Hellbound.ca - Hellbound.ca

“Their music is undeniably heavy, but it’s also dense with trippy excursion and ethereal edges to the intensity… they play with sincerity, brains, skill and humour.”
-Noisography.com - Noisography.com

“Their music is undeniably heavy, but it’s also dense with trippy excursion and ethereal edges to the intensity… they play with sincerity, brains, skill and humour.”
-Noisography.com - Noisography.com

"Lots of drive, melodic guitars and a heavy-set dose of aggro-intensity"


- Unrestrained Magazine (Canada)

"Pure aggression with crushing elements of modern metal, death metal and thrash"


- Music Extreme (Argentina)

"For those that are into the new progressive metal movement will definitely like Orchids Curse"


- -The Gauntlet (USA)

"This is a crossover between thrash, hardcore and death metal."


- Alternative Zine (Israel)

"Catchy riffs and groove-filled breakdowns"
- Chronicles of Chaos (South Africa