Label: Century Media Records
Release Date: October 3, 2025
Genre: Melodic Death Metal / Groove Metal / Djent
Line Up:
Niklas Karlsson – Guitar, Vocals
Richard Hansson – Guitar
Fredrik Lennartsson – Bass
Christopher Wallerstedt – Drums
Tracklist:
Inferna (6:45)
Bloodhound (5:04)
Inside the Waves (4:39)
The Tales of War (5:10)
Hydra (4:49)
Nerve (5:54)
Death Above Life (5:31)
The Storm (4:16)
Neural Collapse (6:21)
The Path I Walk (4:55)
Orbit Culture hit fans with their fifth studio album, and it’s a banger. Filled with raw emotion, this album hits speedy, angry, hard, heavy, and melancholy all in one 53-minute session.
The album certainly has an overall introspective feeling, very focused on the change within a person. From the moment I started playing it and listening intently, I’ve really begun to enjoy almost all of it at a visceral level. They have good grooves, good beats, and a strong riff-centric feel that you can follow throughout. I especially like and enjoy that the songs have variety to them—it’s not just about creating a metal song that has a typical metal sound. There’s depth in the layering from the first song to the end.
Inferna slaps you in the face right away and keeps the energy going throughout. With both heavy and softer moments, the listener is brought through the emotions of Niklas Karlsson. I like how the middle takes a different turn than the rest of the song too—that staccato and driving guitar riff is sick. Coming back to the original riff, the build-up is really nice. It gives you just enough time to breathe before slapping you in the face again.
Bloodhound is a straight-up, no-fucks-given double bass in your face for the first 30 seconds. I like the play between clean vocals and growls. Around the 3-minute mark, we hit a half-time feel compared to the rest of the song, and it works really nicely to keep the headbanging. Going back to the chorus was a nice touch.
Inside the Waves is a little different. So far, the album has been very in-your-face. This track gives some space for you to sit back a little bit and enjoy the scenery. The song has a heavy percussion feel to it, and I like that. There’s good interaction between clean and dirty vocals, plus a nice short solo. I like the 4/4 feel throughout.
The Tales of War, also the first single off this album, starts off with a nice symphonic sound breaking into a riff that feels really good—the sound, the amount of distortion, the muted feel. I can tell why this was the first single. It’s about 1:35 before the lyrics start, but that’s a great build-up. I really like the chorus in this song: fitting lyrics and fitting instrumentation. Great choice for a lead-up single.
Hydra has a sludge and doom feel to it, and I’m loving it. It’s not smacking your face back and forth, but it certainly is giving it a run for its money. I like the slower pace to it—the riffs are on point. The instrumental part is really nice to listen to, with lots of space, time, and feel for the listener to go along for the ride. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album.
Nerve hits the nerves a little differently and brings you back to the driving beat that’s faster and definitely more metal-sounding. I like this song all around: the good mix of clean and dirty vox at the same time, and the solo is excellent, especially as it flows with the voice and then becomes the centric piece. I like the lyrics in this song too.
Death Above Life is by far my top track on the album. It’s more mechanical with the staccato aspect of the guitar sounding choppy, but in a good way. This song is a nice touch to an album that has a lot of catchy riffs and movement. You also get the instrumental part, which adds a whole element to the song, making it even better in my opinion. The space you get to traverse here is expansive and emotional. It has an Opeth feel to it almost.
The Storm has the most “happy” sound to it compared to the rest of the album, but nothing wrong with that. This feels like a classic metal song all around—something for every fan of this kind of music. I like it a lot.
Neural Collapse brings us right back to where this album started, and we’re enjoying a heavy rock song with dark themes and heavy tone. The chorus is pretty catchy too. Although this song starts to sound the same after a while, thankfully around the 3:50 mark we get a change of pace that has a nice atmospheric vibe. I could go without the return to verse and chorus—I think they lost an opportunity here to create a nice atmospheric soundscape that would easily flow into the last song.
The Path I Walk is by far the softest song overall on the album, by Orbit Culture standards at least. A very introspective-sounding piece. I love the depth within the lyrics and how the vocals lead the heaviness—it’s not about distortion and growls. The feeling is felt in this song without the need for that. It’s a great way to end the album, in my opinion.
This album will kick you in the pants and make you headbang without a doubt. I haven’t been able to stop listening to it since I first heard it. If you’re an Orbit Culture fan and you haven’t listened yet, are you living under a rock or just not paying attention? This is one to pay attention to. Probably their best to date.
Written by: Chris Rugowski