Orange Goblin: Healing Through Fire

Orange Goblin dig into the vaults – but not too deep.

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The past two years have been life-changing for loveable London sludgsters Orange Goblin. After nearly 20 years together, the lads finally took the band full-time after the success of 2012’s A Eulogy For The Damned. With album number eight and a tour with Saint Vitus on the way, the timing is perfect to revisit their past work.

Not that they’re going very far back: Healing Through Fire is from 2007. But while A Eulogy takes their doomy stoner jams and gives them a commercial, polished edge, Healing... is more rough ’n’ raw.

Epic opener The Ballad Of Solomon Eagle is a catchy slab of bluesy sludge, Vagrant Stomp is fast-paced with a punk soul, while live favourite They Come Back sounds as raucous as ever. While the lack of extras – just two live tracks from 2007 – may hinder this release for anyone who owns the original, it’s a powerful reminder of the many shades of Orange Goblin.

Hannah May Kilroy
Hannah May Kilroy

Hannah May Kilroy has been writing about music professionally for over a decade, covering everything from extreme metal to country. She was deputy editor at Prog magazine for over five years, and previously worked on the editorial teams at Terrorizer and Kerrang!. She currently works as the production editor for The Art Newspaper, and also writes for the Guardian, Classic Rock and Metal Hammer.