A bit more mainstream than some of the works reviewed on this site, Black Orchid Empire do pride themselves on a combination of heaviness, melody, emotion power and rhythmic complexity. If done well, this is a potent combination. The band certainly has the reputation. “Tempus Veritas” is now their fourth album.
This is a collection of 11 songs, including the self-titled intro. They’re not inane songs, instead being imaginary narratives from history including a failed Everest attempt. These songs are accomplished and magnetic, making you want to sing along and without ever making you recoil at the density. Yet they’re not easy songs either. “Hydrogen” drifts along smoothly and melodically, cutting into a heavier guitar passage but ultimately being an emotively commercial rock song. Stylistically I find them like Temples on Mars, with a bit of Godsticks in there. I’d say Threshold too but here it’s simplicity over extravagance. “The Raven” is heavier and djentier to start but it blends into an emotively-styled song with a soaring chorus. The songs meander in different directions, combining classic songsmanship with patterned guitar work, harmonies and heavier spells. They’re all deliberate and composed in such a light way that they will never lose you. Now it’s like Haken but without all the layers of complexity. “Scarlet Haze” is just that, expanding into commercial territory amid melancholic grandeur and pop-like simplicity.
At times the emotive breathlessness is like prog. “Deny the Sun” has that sort of drama about it. Tick-tock … a harmony runs through it. This is pure Haken on a less flamboyant scale. But the songs have colour and power so it’s not a poor version of anything else. Strong guitar work supports the vocalist’s appeals on “Glory to the King”. Black Orchid Empire manage their passages, switching between a delicate acoustic vocal section and dark djent. The whispering tones of the vocalist on “Summit” are reminiscent of the style Haken’s Ross Jennings. Instrumental progress is imperious. From “Summit” we head to “Weakness”, a light-hearted prog-pop romp, that is until it goes all experimental and psychedelic on us. Not for long though as it’s time for the heavy and explosive “Vesuvius”. The vocalist is fully emotive prog mode, beseeching and creating drama in amongst the instrumental trickery. The skies darken to signal a swirling section of dark prog. “Vesuvius” is a strong song, but then so are they all. “They hang them high, embrace the sky”, cries out the vocalist on the final song “Latimer”. Again the song follows a path which starts with a solid prog-rock song and develops back into strong and purposeful djent.
The songs on “Tempus Veritas” are well crafted. They are easy to get along with and enjoyable to listen to. Black Orchid Empire never shock or resort to extreme measures, but capture drama and emotion in the framework of cleverly interwoven and adeptly constructed melodic and occasionally heavy rock songs.
(9/10 Andrew Doherty)
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