Orange Goblin - The Big Black
Rise Above
Stoner Metal
10 songs (48:14)
Release year: 2000
Orange Goblin, Rise Above
Reviewed by Khelek
Archive review

So far I have been very impressed with what Orange Goblin has produced. Their sound is heavy and classic with good energy. They have proven that they have a consistent sound yet vary their songs enough so that they do not all sound the same. They also show that they can progress in their song writing ability from album to album. The Big Black sees the band turning away from the more atmospheric sound created on their second release and going back to one that is heavily guitar-driven.

The album starts off with the song Scorpionica, a very catchy track that has plenty of fuzzy guitars and the gravelly vocals of frontman Ben Ward. There is also plenty of guitar wah which reminds me a bit of Jimi Hendrix's more psychedelic work. It keeps it short however and the energy continues in Quincy The Pigboy with super-distorted guitars and catchy, fast-paced riffs. The next song I really connect with is the Cozmo Bozo. This is a slower, chunkier take on the sound, starting out with slow clean electric guitar and the clean singing of Ward. From there it picks up with some bigger riffs that chug right along. At times this song actually reminds me of slower work by the band Helmet, perhaps because the vocalist sounds similar. I have noticed as the albums go on the song titles seem to get less and less coherent. In terms of sound the previous album seemed to go for more of an atmospheric, and also more drum and bass oriented, sound whereas this one is getting back to the basic catchy guitar leads. Not to say that this album does not create atmosphere, just not as poignantly as Time Travelling Blues did. 298 Kg has some great heavy guitar work as well as a bit of solo work that fits into the song nicely. Turbo Effalunt (Elephant) probably has one of the catchiest, grooviest melodies of the album, it begins slow and groovy and leads into a quicker verse that has a lot of good hard rock energy. I really like that these guys pay homage to the older doom masters such as Cathedral and Black Sabbath, yet still manage to have a pretty distinct sound. That is tough to do in this day and age. King Of The Hornets for example starts out with that groove-laden Sabbath-esque vibe that I like so much, yet still maintains the band's distinct sound. The final and title track on The Big Black is actually a pretty scary song that chugs slowly forwards at a death-like pace to the chant-like vocals of Ben Ward. It works well and actually creates more of an atmosphere than most other tracks on the album.

You will enjoy this album very much if you like catchy, guitar driven stoner rock/metal e.g. Spiritual Beggars, early Black Sabbath, Kyuss, etc. The band has also tried to blend in some of the atmospheric elements from their previous release, though in the end it mostly gets overtaken by the riffs. This is not a problem for me, though I do not feel the band has really improved on their sound at all in this release. In the end it is a solid stoner metal album nonetheless.

Killing Songs :
Scorpionica, Cozmo Bozo, Turbo Effalunt (Elephant), The Big Black
Khelek quoted 84 / 100
Other albums by Orange Goblin that we have reviewed:
Orange Goblin - A Eulogy For The Damned reviewed by Goat and quoted 80 / 100
Orange Goblin - Healing Through Fire reviewed by Tony and quoted 90 / 100
Orange Goblin - Coup De Grace reviewed by Khelek and quoted 74 / 100
Orange Goblin - Time Travelling Blues reviewed by Khelek and quoted 84 / 100
Orange Goblin - Frequencies From Planet Ten reviewed by Khelek and quoted 81 / 100
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