Band:	Orbeth
Album:	The Way
Style:	Alternative metal
Release date:	February 06, 2012
A review by:	Susan

01. Ebb And Flow
02. Home
03. Lost Yet Connected
04. The Whisper In The Wind
05. Orbethian Queen
06. Time Hole Closing
07. Fire Dream
08. Path To Abaddon
09. Meus Universum............Meus

Orbeth is the baby of Ben "Bijimitsu" White, formerly of Mithras. He plays all instruments and writes the music for this spacey, atmospheric progressive metal band. With a tag like that, are you as excited as I am?

The first track seems like a nice, cool intro with some spooky, spoken male vocals. I don't love spoken vocals but whatever, I'm ready for this to unleash! The second track gets going, no unleashing, and MORE SPOKEN WORD. Oh, dear. Is the whole album going to be like this?

Yes, it is, but a few songs later I get over it and begin to understand their groove. If you have reservations about spoken word then relax, you'll get over it, too. The vocals flow between spoken and darkly whispered, never rising above a mezzo forte despite the music sometimes charging ahead into a whole range of dynamics. This saves it, and after a while the vocals start to make more sense as a vital element of this specific atmosphere which is mystic, cloudy, and menacing.

Maybe because so many bands use spoken passages as intros preceding something explosive, I kept expecting Orbeth to break loose into something bigger during the first few songs. In the beginning the music seems to be hinting towards some fiery climaxes that never fully materialize. But stick with it, and you'll see how it all fits in the bigger picture.

Sometimes the mood of a song felt stunted, held back (musically and vocally), and other times the pensiveness works in its favor, like in "Path To Abaddon" where the vocals are forcibly whispering about hell while the guitar is madly soloing above. Delightfully unsettling.

The production is very hazy but there is no doubt that the music is great stuff. The drumming can get downright maniacal, and the guitar solos are darkly dreamy and epic. It doesn't always build when I want it to, but I seem to enjoy it more and more with each listen. The jury's still out for me; now you go listen and see what happens.