Orange Goblin, a mainstay of the British metal scene for nearly 30 years and have achieved much in their long, fruitful career which has bordered both stoner, doom and traditional metal. Now is the time for their tenth studio outing to grace the airwave. But I cannot say it was welcomed by this critic with much grace or gratitude for the following reasons.

Firstly, the musicianship is…well, dull. Orange Goblin have never been one of the most extreme of metal bands but their shtick is the catchy mix of traditional metal and stoner rock alongside a few lashings of progressive rock and psychedelia. All of which is still here on “Science, Not Fiction,” but the execution seems to be one stick short of a bundle.

There’s very little to go on in terms of how memorable this album is as each song seems to be quite samey and bland compared to the catchiness of OG’s most successful works. But the real reason for this being a record that fell short for this critic was the lyrical content – plenty of which leaves a bit to be desired with the bitterest taste in one’s mouth and psyche.

You’d expect from an album with a title such as this to be a testament to the hard work, research, achievements and other advancements made by scientist and other great minds who have shaped human society into its best form in the face of adversity. However, the questionable lyrics to the track “False Hope Diet” alerted the anti-vaxxer alarm buried in my psyche, which, over the past few years has been ringing more times than ever when needing to explain the mechanics of a vaccine and how countless rumours of infertility and neurological compromise, are patent bullshit. Either Ben Ward and his lackeys were putting on some sort of ironic attack on the populist zeitgeist of the west post-covid, or they bought into a wide range of conspiracy theories that plagued social media and news outlets throughout the days we were forced to stay indoors. I do certainly hope this was the stance of the band with this particular track but I cannot say I am as deeply acquainted with OG’s modus-operandi to confirm.

If there are any keener OG fans who know of Ben Ward’s opinions regarding some of the most important social themes of the day, I would suggest you write your own review to show me just how wrong I am. For I am now of the impression that Orange Goblin have gotten more right wing as they aged, as well as run low on ideas in terms of musicianship.

Overall, “Science, Not Fiction” is a forgettable piece of traditional/stoner metal that plays out like a poorly written pulp story printed in some out-of-print magazine which only the most eccentric of sci-fi nerds would be aware of. It’s dull, boring, filled with questionable lyrics and not something one would recommend for those educated in natural science and were hoping for a metallic diatribe against the conspiracy theorists plaguing the human psyche every minute of every day.

(4/10 Demitri Levantis)

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https://peaceville.bandcamp.com/album/science-not-fiction