orphan

http://www.viceland.com/int/v15n8/htdocs/records-150.php


ORPHAN
Aborted by Birth
In the Nursery
How many rockers does it take to change a lightbulb? Well, if by “change a lightbulb” you mean “totally rock,” then the answer is two—one to be a tough chick drummer and one to play raw and evil-sounding art-metal entirely on bass. Bands with four or five members are basically just support groups for lonely pussies. Anyway, Orphan is NYC’s new deal and this record is totally cool. Plus the packaging is killer: The cover is by painter David Ratcliff, the back cover is an inverted Daydream Nation cover, the record is on white vinyl, and it’s limited to 666 numbered copies. As they say, Satan is in the details.

MEG SNEED
- Vice Magazine

If you're lucky to get your hands on one of the six hundred and sixty six pressed copies of this LP, you'll hear the sounds of a new metal band that shows as much potential as early Slayer or Melvins. Orphan's Aborted by Birth is the first release on Bob Nickas' new promising From the Nursery label, and the hipster police over at Vice have already declared it the best album of August. Hailing from Brooklyn, this forcefully driving duo alternates between instrumentally hard rock and screaming death metal without missing a beat throughout their entire debut full-length. From side 'F' to side 'U' (ask the nearest third-grader if you don't get it) of this white vinyl, you'll hear aggression, abandonment, and full throttle bombardment of your eardrums. Orphan obviously isn't for everyone, but if you think you're up to it, you're in for one of the most ferocious records of the summer. [MG] (Released 2008)
- Other Music

I'm in the middle of a noise war with my neighbor. He plays techno in the middle of the night and watches soccer at top volume when I want to sleep past 9 on a Sunday morning. Last week, on a stormy night, the thunder wasn't quick or loud enough to block him out even with all my windows open, so I put on Orphan's Aborted by Birth and turned my speakers at the wall. That did it.


He cranked up the nst-nst music, and I cranked up "Boat Driver," my favorite Orphan song, 'cus it's got a death knock like Slayer's "Reign in Blood." I pounded my fist against the wall with it until I couldn't hear anything except Orphan, not even the thunder after the flashes of lightning.

Aborted by Birth—666 copies were released on white vinyl—is a necessary weapon for this noise war, it's also one of the best albums Brooklyn has ever created. I'll defend that to anyone who feels like a fight. While I usually go straight to Sabbath's No.4, The Stooges' Funhouse or anything Boris, having something new and local shows these electronica jerks the fight is still on, and we will never go away. Brooklyn can get more electronic, add layers of synth and fake bass, but it'll always get shot down against simple, sludgy rock 'n' roll.

Orphan. From Brooklyn. Duo. Brendan Majewski plays bass and screams. Speck Brown drums. I know what you're thinking. Brooklyn finally has its own Lightning Bolt! Yeah, that's what I originally thought as well, but Orphan appeals to my Melvins and Sabbath side more than anything that has ever come out of Rhode Island.

The debut on artist/writer Bob Nickas' new label, From the Nursery, proves the duo has expert marksmanship. Majewski's fuzzy bass riffs run on tangents while Brown's steady, demonic drumming holds it all together. She's a rhythm section unto herself, but she has to be. Majewski plays bass like a lead guitarist. The first track, "Alcoholica," sounds like Greg Ginn's distortion fused with one of Chuck Dukowski's aggressive bass leads. He's playing metal guitar leads on a bass.

"I grew up listening to punk and hardcore, so Born Against is my favorite band, and Unwound," says Brown. "As I got older, I got into metal."

You can sense the punk and metal influences in the songs, but it's still a hard sound to nail down; it warrants close listening.There aren't set choruses, though the riffs are like any good Sabbath riff: they always come back around before launching in a new direction.

The slow-burning "Mock" never repeats a line, while telling a confused story of failed love.The song slows to a crawl and then bashes back with the words: "I lacked your faith/ I lacked your ways/ for all my lies/ what/ sigh." It's easily one of the best moments on the album.

The words are as puzzling and creepy as the song titles. Two of the 10 tracks are titled "Penis Farm" and "Jane Fonda." In "Swan Blood," Majewski agonizingly screams: "Things are wrong here/ What's it like to be on time/ No one never waits/ Never waited here/ Act loud/ How loud."

Despite Brendan's chilling screams and dark bass, Orphan doesn't seem to care that much about its place in the larger city noise war going on in the minds of bored music journalists. "We just play what we think sounds good," says Brown. "We are just having fun."

> Orphan

May 9, Starr Space, 108-110 Starr St. (at Knickerbocker Ave.), Brooklyn, www.starrspace.net;10, $10

- New York Press

Only the most evil scenesters among you have likely heard of Orphan, a two-piece bass n’ drums metal act that reeks of Dale Crover’s coveted ball sweat and the undeniable stench of sulfur. It’s hard for any band these days to achieve maximum exposure by releasing its debut album exclusively on vinyl and limited to an eeeeeevil six hundred and sixty six copies, but that’s precisely what Orphan did with the reckless, sludgetastic Aborted by Birth. Thankfully now available digitally from legal download bodegas on these interwebs, here’s hoping more people will catch on to the awesome. Orphan also put together some groovy Youtube videos of its tracks, many of which can be found here. Check out the one for “Love Is For The Birds” below.

Anyhow, those of you who’ll be in the New York City area on December 22nd might want to catch Orphan playing with Growing, as well as the charmingly named Child Abuse and Extreme Violence, downtown. I’ve yet to actually step foot into Santos Party House, the hot new music venue co-owned by happy headbanger Andrew W.K., but that lineup (and the sweet promotional e-flyer) may actually draw my flabby, hairy ass out.



-GS

[Gary Suarez is your Mom's new boyfriend. Get used to it. He also writes for Brainwashed and infrequently manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No.]
- MetalSucks.net