ORANGE GOBLIN (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for taking your time. What’s currently going on with ORANGE GOBLIN?
hello,how’s things? well,we are currently awaiting the release of our 7th album ‘A Eulogy for the Damned’, on Candlelight records.The album is out on February 13th.We are really excited for people to hear it
– First of all, though you’ve been around for several years now; could you make some history of the band? You guys appeared when it seemed to be a really healthy moment for the Doom scene in the UK.
we are into our 17th year as Orange Goblin which i think in itself is a great achievement to be going so long.We started as Our Haunted Kingdom but changed the name just as Chris(drummer) joined the band.Our first 5 albums were released on Lee Dorrian’s Rise Above Records,the last of which,’Thieving From the House of God’ was our first as a 4 piece as Pete O’Malley(guitars) left the band.Our Previous album ‘Healing Through Fire’ was our only release on Sanctuary records
– And why did you pick the name of «Orange Goblin»?
At the time we were:
a) heavily into ‘the lord of the Rings’ and fantasy
b) influenced by 70’s rock,where all the top bands had colours in their name,i.e black sabbath,pink floyd,deep purple etc
and c) drunk. ha ha
– Have been 5 years between «Healing through Fire» and this new «A Eulogy for the Damned»; why did it take you that time?
Chris moved down to Brighton to have a family,so getting back up to London to rehearse and write was more of a problem.Joe(guitars) also got married and had a family so writing new material was hard. We still carried on playing live but that stopped us writing for any substantial period of time.We got a bit lazy i think
– And what are your expectations with your new «A Eulogy for the Damned»? How’s being its feedback so far?
the feed back for ‘Eulogy..’ has been incredible.There has been some great reviews already.We dont have any real expectations except that we hope our fans enjoy it
– Is really hard to say which is the best album by a band like ORANGE GOBLIN, as all your albums are excelent and pretty well-cared, but we could say in this record your have reached the definitive and absolute degree of maturity; could we say this is your most tight and complete opus so far?
absolutley!! this is the most mature OG album by some way. You can here that for a start we are actually sober…which makes a change,but the songwriting and structuring has really improved in my opinion.
– If I’m not mistaken this is your first release with Candlelight; how’s everything going with them? You only released one album with Mayan after releasing all the previous ones with Rise Above; what happened?
Candlelight have been amazing and very patient.We were due to record 18 months ago but were simply not ready,but Candlelight were very cool and told us to take our time.Rise above were and still are amazing,but we thought we needed a fresh challenge which is why we signed to Sanctuary/Mayan.That was all cool,but soon after the release of ‘Healing…’ they were bought out by Universal and the music side of the company was virtually scrapped.
– This is as well your first album without guitar player Pete OMalley; what made him left?
No,this is our 3rd album without Pete, He left after we had toured USA on the Coup De Grace tour. I think he had had enough of touring felt he had achieved everything he had wanted too
– So now you have just one guitar player; why that change? Did you want to vary your sound, trying new things, or just that you haven’t found the proper replacement?
Pete had told us he was going to leave,but before he was due to play his 2nd from last gig,he couldnt make the show,so we decided to play it as a 4 piece.Everyone said it sounded great so we left it like it
– The album was engineered by seasones Andy Jackson; are you guys satisfied with his work?
Very much so. the album sounds great. the best sounding OG album by along way
– And what could you comment on the album’s artwork?
the artwork was done by a friend of ours called James Isaac who used to play in a band named Taint. we are really happy with it.it captures some of the themes of the album,such as Chtulu etc.
– Your lyrics deal with subjects as personal relationships, drugs, etc. What do lyrics on «A Eulogy for the Damned» deal with? What are the foundations behind them?
Ben(vocals) rights all the lyrics so he would be better to answer this question but Ben has written some fantasy lyrics like on Red Tide Rising. He also wrote about the Hell’s Angels like on Acid Trial and Death Of Aquarius.His Lyrics are varied,but alsosome of his best work
– After all these years and albums, you guys manage to add something new, or a different feeling, to each new release so; do you tend to have a similar songwriting process with each album?
yes,very similar. we just bring ideas into a room,like a jigsaw puzzle and see what fits together. its more or less the same as we’ve always worked
– You have always mixed influences from different music styles as Stoner or Doom Rock so, what are the band’s m ain musical influences?
we come from 4 different musical backgrounds but we all share a love for 70’s rock and metal.Black Sabbath being the obvious love and influence.i come from a more metal background,as does ben.joe is from a blues background and chris a punk and hardcore
– We can also find certain BLACK SABBATH flavour, specially on this new opus, in fact it will come out next February 13th, the same day BLACK SABBATH released their debut album and the same day they will unleash their upcoming album. Was this something intended?
it certainly was. we have always joked that feb 13th was Dooms-mas. the birth of metal.so as it looked like our album would be ready for release around the same time,we deliberately pin pointed that date.
– Back in January Rise Above re-released all your albums but «Healing through Fire». Some of those albums were already out of print and some of them on this new compilation featured bonus tracks or remastered versions. Did those re-releases helped you gain more success or fame? Have you noticed this with this new album?
Maybe a little.it was great to have them older albums available again as even the 4 of us didnt own some of them. people have shown quite a lot of interest in them old releases and that can only be a good thing
– And finally, what are your near-future plans?
we are about to play our first show in Croatia,which is exciting.We then start a UK and Ireland tour in April and then get ready to play as many festivals as possible during the summer
– That’s all from my side, thanks once more for your time. If you now want to add some final thoughts; feel free to do it.
we just hope people enjoy the new record have a great 2012!
its beer time!!
