There ought to be a course in genres for those of us who have to write about music. I have little clue what the key differences between death metal, symphonic metal and melodic metal might be but it would seem that Orpheus Omega are an Australian melodic metal band and “Emberglow” is the name of their album.
One thing is for certain. This isn’t an album that exudes subtlety and, with plenty of guttural vocals, riffing guitars and manic speed drumming, it can only truly be listened to at something approaching ear-splitting volume. Now that we’ve got that out the way, what else is in there? A band that just won’t stop, that’s what. Let’s talk about the lyrics. I was fairly sure there would be some in amongst the cacophony and if you dig deep there are indeed words to be found. Said lyrics have a certain brutality to them yet, despite the relentless delivery, they retain a clear focus on the conceptual mysticism that gave birth to them and - this was something of a surprise - you can actually singalong with them.
Maybe that is the appeal of a band like this. They just won’t stop unless you want them to and, if melodic metal is your thing, you don’t want them too. “Emberglow” plays with deeper concepts in its few delicate moments yet it always remains true to the expectations of the genre and you are never in any doubt as to whether Orpheus Omega have the energy to deliver everything that is here to their intended audience. In fact, they have so much energy that we could probably harness them instead of wind power and duly save the planet.