Orphans

Just Ad Bello EP

Written by: PP on 18/12/2012 21:57:09

UnderOATH isn't a band anymore, which is likely to give Orphans a boost among those fans considering they are essentially an UnderOATH clone from circa "Define The Great Line"-era and before. They released an EP earlier this year called "Jus Ad Bello", a shameless copy of UnderOATH's sound minus the clean vocals. The instrumentation, the rhythmic pulsation of the music, the approach to screamo in general, it's straight out of the UnderOATH playbook through and through.

Luckily for this Denver bunch, the impersonation is delivered in a rather convincing manner. In spotlight role is their highly competent screamer, whose thick and throaty screamo should make Spencer Chamberlain stop and double back down just to check that he wasn't mistaken by what he heard while cruising by the band's live show accidentally. The opener "Henry Rollin's New Haircut" - which I presume is a newer track included on the physical since it's not on the Bandcamp release - is a perfect example of the band's faithful UnderOATH worship, but it's also an excellent track given the power behind those pipes and the solid production that the track has been given. The other four tracks are also decent, but suffer from way too DIY production values that leave the sound crackling and breaking where it should be crystal clear and dynamic like the opening track.

That leaves me with a bit of a dilemma as a reviewer because it looks like Orphans have taken a monumental step forward from one song to the next. This EP as a whole isn't particularly great, but "Henry Rollin's New Haircut" is such a good screamo track that it leads me to believe there's a ton of potential waiting to be uncovered once the band hit a proper recording studio.

7

Download: Henry Rollin's New Haircut
For the fans of: UnderOATH, Oh Sleeper,
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date 27.05.2012
Never Lost Records

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