Orestea – Elements

By RingMaster Review on September 26, 2017 • ( 0 )

Already embracing a fair wash of attention and acclaim through previous EP This is An Overture and a spirit sparking live presence, UK outfit Orestea have pushed their creative bar on again with their striking new album Elements. Bringing rich essences of melodic rock and alternative metal together in collusion with what can only be described as pop virility, the Guildford hailing band weave a seriously infectious proposition which boils time and time again within an album which has body and imagination bouncing.

Cored around the energy and craft of guitarist Lloyd Wilson, bassist Mike Quinn, and the vocal magnetism of Lisa Avon, a line-up completed by guitarist Johno Madgwick since recording the album, Orestea irrepressibly build on a potent reputation earned through songs and performances alongside the likes of alongside Ashestoangels, Forever Never, ESO, and Wednesday 13 as well as plaudit drawing sets at festivals such as Bloodstock, Download and Guildfest, in swift time upon Elements. As soon as opener Welcome to Surviville comes forth, there is a sense of fresh adventure and assured maturity in songwriting and sound at work. Drama accompanies the approaching sound just as harmony soaks the vocal invitation of Avon whilst imagination instantly infests every twist and turn as the song settles into its rock pop temptation. Driven by the rhythmic web cast by drummer Jack Slade across the release, the song simultaneously rumbles upon and serenades the senses, that adventurousness continuing to fuel guitars, keys, and the heart of an excellent opener setting the creative template and heart of things to come.

The following Here’s The Plan immediately saunters in with a vibrant air, melodies and metallic riffs uniting around Avon’s increasingly potent tones. Her voice is an instinctive roar, as much a seductive flame as it is a steely incitement and as virulent as the sounds around her. Though maybe not quite finding the boldness of its predecessor, the track keeps attention and pleasure burning bright before the album’s title track sizzles on ears. The dancing enterprise of the guitars brings its own raw edge to match the biting and dark temptations of drums and bass, the latter’s grumble especially magnetic in the heated contagious blaze of the song.

References to the likes of Paramore and Don Broco seem to crop up more often than not and it is easy to hear why but as fourth track Ghost of Letting Go steps forward, Orestea only establish their own individual character upon thought and sound. The song is a fiery ballad built on the metallic strains of Quinn’s bass; a song with irritability in its roar and harmonic grace in its calm which only captivates before Alive or Just Existing shows the band is just as adept at kicking up a storm though that attack is unsurprisingly bound in an infectiousness which has the body bouncing and energies rising. It is pure pop rock ‘n’ metal mastery and another pinnacle upon the already praise stamped proposition.

Through the reflective beauty of Getaway, Avon sheer radiance within its warm atmospheric contemplation, and the rowdier stroll of Eggshells, ears are treated to further invention and an enjoyably inescapable persuasion which The Wreckage continues as it burns in ears with emotion and sonic flames like a drama woven sunset. All three leave pleasure and thoughts enamoured before Got Your Back echoes their persuasions with its own enticement if one not quite matching their heights of those but only due to personal preference.

The album is completed by the emotive sigh of Burning Bridges, Avon and music a release of emotive intensity which caps a fine album with a melodic passion hard to not get wrapped up in. It is a fine conclusion to a release which confirms Orestea as one stirring proposition with still the potential of even greater adventures ahead. If being over fussy, there are times within Elements when the band might have pursued its imagination and invention with even braver boldness but it is just a greedy quibble upon something which excites from beginning to end.

Elements is out now @ http://shop.orestea.com/product/elements-album