Halifax’s metal ambassadors Orchid’s Curse’s latest,
Words, reads like a dissertation from the heavier side of the tracks. All the traditional metal motifs are here, from the pseudo-religious iconoclasm of the cover art to the sort of lyrical symbolism that goes best with double kick drum. In the tirade against consumerism, “Indifferences,” Hogan screams “Apathy is killing us/most days I don’t care.” The conceptualized lyrics are a vein pumping blood through the hedonistic crunch and thrash of
Words. But it doesn’t stop the title track from pulverizing the listener to submission, suddenly pausing, and restarting to end with the abruptness of a declaration spoken.
