Tag Archive: Orbs

Fear Before Officially On Hiatus

Jul.04, 2011

Adam Fisher of Fear Before (formerly Fear Before The March Of Flames [last.fm consistency be damned]) has made a series of announcements through the band’s Facebook page regarding the state of affairs in the Fear Before camp. Essentially, if you’re waiting for a new record from them: don’t.

[Edited for grammar because it bugs the hell out of me... -Ed.]

“Guys. I’m sorry if you have been left with the feeling that we (Fear Before The March Of Flames) have been leading you on making you think were working on music. We are not. As of april 2010, Goose, David, Mike and I have not been in the same room together with our instruments.”

“However, until april 2010 I had written quite a few songs for a new Fear Before The March Of Flames record with the help of Goose. Whether or not we will ever release another record is up in the air right now. There is no immediate plan to write/record/ or tour. This has nothing to do with ORBS, Loom, All Human, or any other project Goose or I may be a part of. It’s just the way things went.”

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Tags: Adam Fisher, All Human, Fear Before, Fear Before The March Of Flames, Loom, Orbs

Watch A Live ORBS Stream From SXSW

Filed Under: Live, Prog-Metal March, Video

Mar.17, 2011

Like us, you’re probably all too poor/have work/school, or are just not damn cool enough to go to SXSW, possibly the most important music event in the United States. Maybe we’ll get to go someday, when we’re on a level of internet famous with the likes of Metalsucks or Metal Injection, but for now we’re gonna have to make do with awesome things like this.

Yes, Equal Vision Records are putting together a live stream of ORBS‘ (Dan Briggs of Between the Buried and Me, Adam Fisher and Clayton Holyoak of Fear Before) performance from the Dirty Dog Bar TODAY(!), as part of the SXSW festivities! Bloody nice of them isn’t it?

ORBS will be on from 2PM CENTRAL TIME here, but festivities start from midday and go on until 5pm. It promises to be a blast! Asleep Next To Science was one of my favourite albums from last year, and this is a worthy addition to our Prog-Metal March celebration!

The whole line-up includes Eisley, Gatsbys American Dream, ORBS, Wild Orchid Children, This Time Next Year, and special guests, Harvard. Boy do we spoil you!

Try not to let your boss/teacher/mum catch you bunking off, though, yeah? We take absolutely no responsibility.

- CG

Tags: Asleep Next To Science, Equal Vision, Orbs, SXSW

Helveticore: Prog Metal March Edition

Filed Under: Helveticore, Prog-Metal March

Mar.11, 2011

Consensus around here is that it is prog metal March. I checked the calendar and it is indeed March, so I’ve decided to weigh in by compiling a list of the biggest cliches in prog album art design. Intensive research went into polling the 900 songs in my iTunes library with a genre label containing the word ‘progressive’. While these visual elements can be considered cliche because of how often they are used, I think that the quality of (most of) the artwork is still high. If anything, it’s a testament to how the same elements can be used multiple times and still look relatively fresh. The list is a in descending order of how often I think each cliche element is used.

5. Mathy things, equations, visual representation of mathematical concepts

Covers appearing from left to right are (1) Scale The Summit - The Collective, (2) Mouth of the Architect - Time & Withering (3) The Human Abstract - Nocturne

I don’t have a lot of examples of this, but I’m absolutely positive that more math inspired covers exist. The new Scale the Summit artwork is probably the most glaring example, it depicts a pattern most commonly associated with sunflower seeds and other flowers, as well as types of broccoli, cauliflower and other natural things. The pattern is a visual representation of the Fibonacci sequence and the golden mean. It is composed of two opposite spirals superimposed on top of each other. I was reading an interesting article about the occurrence of this in nature, but I can’t find it again, so if you would like further reading try here or here. The Mouth of the Architect cover is essentially the same pattern.

The cover for Nocturne has some Da Vinci-esque sketches on it and from what I understand, that dude was pretty mathematically inclined. I know, weak example, but it’s the best I could do on short notice.

I know there has to be more math-inspired covers out there but I’m drawing a blank as to what and where they are. It’s kind of a bummer, because I love art inspired by math and data visualization work in general. If anyone has any suggestions of album art or design work inspired by mathematical concepts I would love to check it out.

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Dan Briggs of ORBS: The HBIH Interview

Filed Under: Interviews

Aug.13, 2010

I recently got the opportunity to trade e-mails with Dan Briggs, best know as the bassist for prog-metal maestros Between the Buried and Me, to talk about his new band, the very different but equally-as-fantastic ORBS.

A supergroup of sorts, ORBS also features members of Fear Before, Cradle of Filth and Torch Runner. Their upcoming album Asleep Next To Science has been maturing for around three years, and I rightly gave it a resounding thumbs up in my review here.

Hi Dan! Thanks for taking the time to sit down and talk to us. So: why the name ‘ORBS’?

The name ORBS comes from the original demo of the song “Sayer of the Law”, the demo name for it was “orb party” because we always viewed the floaty piano cadenza section before the first verse, as a star kind of exploding with energy and floating through space. I told Ashley it always reminded me of the dying star scenes in “The Fountain”, but I don’t think she’s seen it yet!

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Tags: Between The Buried and Me, Cradle of Filth, Dan Briggs, Fear Before, Orbs, Torch Runner

ORBS – Asleep Next To Science

Filed Under: Reviews

Jul.28, 2010

ORBS

Asleep Next To Science

01. Sayer of the Law
02. A Man of Science
03. Megaloblastic Madness
04. The Northwestern Bearitories A: We the Animal
05. The Northwestern Bearitories B: Kid Cancer
06. People Will Read Again
07. Something Beautiful
08. Lost at Sea
09. Eclipsical

[Equal Vision | 08/17/10]

Combining members of Between the Buried and Me, Cradle of Filth, Fear Before and Torch Runner, you’d be forgiven for expecting ORBS to be some kind of metal supergroup – albeit perhaps an eclectic one.

That was the mindset I had going into Asleep Next To Science, the debut album this group have had in the works since 2007. What I found was not even close to what I presumed: it is at first a bizarre, immeasurable experience, but one that rewards investment.

You see, despite the collective pedigree of the members of ORBS, they are not really metal at all. It was quite a surprise to say the least. Oh sure, they’re heavy (at times), but they instead take an astral, progressive approach to their music, combining a multitude of compositional techniques to create a sound that is very difficult to pigeon-hole. Bravo, ORBS; I like this.

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Tags: Asleep Next To Science, Between The Buried and Me, Cradle of Filth, Equal Vision Records, Fear Before, Orbs, Torch Runner

Orbs Tourbs!

Filed Under: Tours and Rumors of Tours

Jul.26, 2010

Whilst not fresh news, we thought it worth mentioning that cross-country prog supergroup Orbs will be touring from the middle of next month into September in support of their long-awaited debut album Asleep Next To Science. Not only is this an exciting and probably rare opportunity to see something a little bit special, but it’s also mentionable because our review will be coming next week!

This extremely talented and unique band is the brain-child of Between the Buried and Me‘s bassist Dan Briggs and Cradle of Filth keyboardist Ashley Ellyllon, and also features two members of Fear Before.

Dates as follows:

19th August – Legitimate Business – Greensboro, NC (Launch show)
20th August – Skull Alley – Louiseville, KY
21st August – The End – Nashville, TN
22nd August – Juanita’s – Little Rock, AR
23rd August – Rubber Gloves – Denton, TX
24th August – Red 7 – Austin, TX
26th August – The Underground – Phoenix, AZ
27th August – Radio Room – San Diego, CA
28th August – Cobalt Cafe – Los Angeles, CA
29th August – Bottom of the Hill – San Francisco, CA
31st August – Backspace – Portland, OR
1st September – Studio 7 – Seattle, WA
2nd September – Redroom – Boise, ID
3rd September – Kilby Court – Salt Lake City, UT
4th September – Marquis Theatre – Denver, CO
5th September – Waiting Room – Omaha, NE

All tour dates are with Junius, and they are joined at the launch show by Braveyoung.

Check back next week for the official verdict on crazy roof-bound preachers and tea parties with bears. You ‘eard.

- CG

Tags: Asleep Next To Science, Between The Buried and Me, Cradle of Filth, Fear Before, Orbs

OOOOOORRRRRRBBBBBBBSSSSSSS

Filed Under: Downloads, Upcoming releases

Mar.31, 2010

Take members of Between the Buried and Me, Cradle of Filth, and Fear Before (The March Of Flames), and what do you get? You get fucking ORBS.

Orbs is a prog rock supergroup of sorts, consisting of Dan Briggs of Between the Buried and Me (on guitar this time!), Adam Fisher and Clayton Holyoak of Fear Before the March of Flames on vocals and drums, respectively, Ashley Ellyllon, formerly of Abigail Williams and now of Cradle of Filth doing keys, and Chuck Johnson (of Nightbear) on bass.

The reason I bring up this group destined for awesome? They are releasing their first album, “Asleep Next to Science”, this year! And what’s better, they are offering two free songs, “A Man Of Science” and “Megaloblastic Madness”, on their official website. And you should check them out on MySpace, while you’re at it.

It’s about time, too! This stuff was in the works after Colors came out, if I recall correctly. According to Danny Briggs, more details are coming, and we’ll get back to you when they do.

- JR