It has been quite a while since MV saw Merseyside’s Conan. To be fair, though, we could have seen them last night and still nothing really prepares you for what happens when the three-piece gets on stage. You could say they were doom or sludge if you want to, but only if the apocalypse follows doom and the sludge was radioactive. Rather they come at you in a hail of riffs and screaming, accompanied by their unsettling visuals. All of this means the likes of “Satsumo” and the huge “Levitation Hoax” do not do it like anyone else.
Right from the start of “Equilibrium Of Mankind” They are, however, faster than I recalled, during their 40 minutes finding some thrash metal in the mix, “Volt Thrower” for example, is sensational and when it’s mixed with the epic “Foehammer” it makes Jon Davis and the lads are formidable prospect.
Indeed, they’ve always been pretty formidable, whichever of their line-ups we speak of through the years. Always massive sounding and labyrinthine, nightmarish if you will, but irresistible. As much as you wouldn’t want every band to sound like this you can be very glad this one does. File straight under uneasy listening. Not one to book for children’s parties.
Just when you think you could not love Orange Goblin’s man mountain frontman Ben Ward any more he says this: “You’ve seen us up here you know there is no Rockstar bullshit, we’re not gonna walk off stage to have you scream for us to come back on. We’ll do 3 songs instead of two. Consider this the start of the encore.”
That simple no frills, every-man approach, has been the hallmark of Orange Goblin for almost 30 years. It is that anniversary for them soon, but they continue to look forward. To that end, they released the brilliant “Science, Not Fiction” record earlier this year and they begin with “Cemetery Rats” One of its best cuts.
Rather like Iron Maiden, though, they understand how to mine their legacy. “Scorpionica” doesn’t sound a quarter of a century old, and they have dusted off plenty but you haven’t heard for ages like, “Hot Magic, Red Planet” and “Snail Hook” a little later in the set.
And you also know, as you always know, that this band is keeping it real. There are tech difficulties in “Saruman’s Wish”, these are laughed off as occupational hazards of playing truly live.
They’ve had quite the day too, as drummer Chris is a Wolves native and he’s been showing them the sights. The glamour on the road never stops, does it?
Yet over their lifetimes doing this they have built up one of the more formidable back catalogues. Whether it’s the epic “Heavy Lies The Crown”, the incredible grease and rage of “The Filthy And The Few” or the new ones they play like “The Fire At The Centre Of The Earth Is Mine”, then one thing binds them. The feeling that the band playing them, loves this music just as much as those watching. You’ve only got to look at Ben Ward – now with short hair – playing air guitar with Joe Hoare in “(Not) Rocket Science” to see that.
That one comes in the middle of that encore that wasn’t one, sandwiched in between “Quincy The Pigboy” and “Red Tide Rising” and as Motorhead’s “We Are The Roadcrew” place them off stage the words of the latters chorus ring around your head.
You might not be looking for “sanctuary”, a “Hail Mary” or indeed a “visionary” here, what you find instead, is one of the finest British metal bands of the last three decades. They are Orange blinking Goblin, baby!” or words to that effect.
