What's the deal with Orbit Culture? They seemed to come out of more or less nowhere with 2020's well-received Nija, but have also been around for over a decade now, dating back at least as far as 2013. Whatever their origins, the Swedish band have ridden a steady wave of well-deserved, if perhaps still unproven hype to become one of the most buzzed about bands in modern metal. It's easy to see why their blend of djenty, melodeath-ish groove-metal might cause a stir (especially among listeners with predilections akin to my own). They are capable of producing some truly astounding moments when they really lean into the aggressive side of their sound. To that end, Death Above Life is both the best thing Orbit Culture have ever released, by some considerable distance, but the album is also a frustrating embodiment of some of the band's seemingly unshakable shortcomings.
Death Above Life suffers from what I call the "Early-Trivium Problem", which is to say that the first minute or so of each song consists of some of the raddest riffs I've ever heard, only to be suddenly squandered by the uninspired verses and subpar vocal deliveries that follow. Take for example "The Tales of War", which has the best beginning to a song I've heard in ages, and I';m not really sure what it's not doing earlier on in the album. It's propulsive grove riff absolutely explodes out of the traps, gradually adding extra layers and variation until the band are at full force. From there though, it doesn't really go anywhere; it just sort of plodding along in the same mid-paced tempo which is only ever punctuated, but never truly pierced by a, disappointingly flat chorus that is hampered by frontman Niklas Karlsson's otherwise monotonous delivery as much as its cacophonous, compacting setting. There is so much potential here, but it is never truly capitalised on.
Alas, when Orbit Culture do take time to focus on their hooks, the results are often even less successful. Second track "Bloodhound" begins in fine from, sounding like Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia-era Dimmu Borgir, or perhaps something Fear Factory or even In Flames might have come up with, had they delved further down the nu metal rabbit hole, and contains an absolutely colossal beatdown-riff section in the middle. Unfortunately, it also contains three-times as many instances of an irritatingly repetitive and rather juvenile chorus that sees Karlsson screaming "you fucked it up" over and over again atop a jarring, Slipknot-style rhythm. "Inside the Waves" is a more successful attempt at catchiness, being built around a memorable melodic chorus that bolsters rather than bringing down the rest of the song. I can't believe it hasn't been released as a single yet, especially when the rest of the album is devoid of other successful examples, and it's telling that these two songs are the only ones I can recall by name alone.
The album is also awkwardly sequenced, a lot of these songs start as build ups, though none are put out-front or really lead into anything. Instead the record starts with "Inferna", which sounds like a reinterpretation of Machine Head's reinterpretation of Strapping Young Lad's "Love?", and would perhaps have been better suited as the album;s closing track. I can definitely see it closing out Orbit Culture's concerts from here on, and anything would probably have been better than "The Path I Walk", which is an almost Staind-style butt-rock ballad, that really showcases Karlsson's limitations s a vocalist and—again—never really goes anywhere, while being otherwise accentuated by awkward symphonics. Both it and "The Storm", which is a folk-metal-tinged number that sounds like a noisier and concussively compressed Amon Amarth, don't really fit within the album's more modern sounding surrounds and could have alleviated some of the record's exhaustive length by being omitted.
Death Above Life is also made more difficult than it should be to listen to by an overly compressed and often concussive mix that causes a homogenisation of its compositions while also obscuring a lot of the instrumental nuances that are actually present. All of its tracks are also way too long for how one-dimensional they are. Each of them is stretched to around the 5–6-minute mark, when they only seem to consist of enough material to fill 3–4. The title-track is the biggest offender here, being a rather rudimentary djethcore beatdown track padded out by an almost minute-long orchestral section that leads into an uneventful stomping section with an unnecessary repeat of the its main, Vildhjarta thall riff tacked on the end for some reason—a trick that is unnecessarily repeated again on "Neural Collapse", which otherwise comes to a fairly natural end around the 3:50 mark.
Orbit Culture certainly have the riffs, but they still need the songs. They have so many awesome ideas and so much inherent momentum, but seemingly no real idea with what to do with any of it. This leaves Death Above Life paradoxically dense and long-winded but also insubstantial and unmemorable, even with how instantaneous and exhilarating it all can be. The album is an absolute blast to listen to, but the moment you start paying attention to what's actually going on—or rather what isn't—things become a lot less interesting. A more conscious and focused approach to songwriting, along with a more balanced and organic-sounding mix and a bit more vocal dexterity would go a long way toward bringing out Orbit Culture's true and likely monstrous potential.