AN NCS PREMIERE: ORBITA — “NÈKYIA”

(written by Islander)

The porous “rule” in our site’s title is about to have another hole punched in it, a very big hole that will leave it bleeding. Which is to say that the vocals in the song we’re about to premiere include naught but singing — though the singing soars to shattering heights of anguish and agony, much as the song as a whole does.

The name of the song is “Nèkyia“, and it’s from the debut album of the Italian band Orbita, which is set for international release on October 9th by Aural Music. The album’s title could easily stand in for the moods of the song — Farewell to All We’ve Lost.

We ought to say very quickly, for those who are familiar with Orbita’s 2023 debut demo (Into Nothingness I Walk), that the band’s lineup has changed since then, and the music on their debut album has evolved from the demo’s rendering of traditional stoner doom. Here is how Aural Music’s press materials describe it:

Today, Orbita stand as a new upcoming force in the Italian dark / doom metal scene, crafting oppressive atmospheres, crushing riffs, and haunting melodies that explore the deepest corners of the human psyche. Their music transcends the boundaries of conventional doom, blending hypnotic heaviness with profound introspection to create an intense and cathartic listening experience.

“Nèkyia” provides powerful proof that the quoted description isn’t hyperbole. It’s a soul-shaker and a soul-sinker, and one we venture to say you won’t quickly forget — in large part because of those clean vocals, which easily earn their exception to the “command” of our site’s name through their remarkable timbre and the intensity of feeling that floods through them.

The opening of “Nèkyia” is a classic example of how talented people can communicate their own dark moods in very simple and direct ways. There’s nothing elaborate about the slowly strummed chords that begin the song, but the music’s ringing and moaning tones unmistakably position the listener (and they do so very quickly) in a place of loneliness and sorrow, a grey place that seems to admit no hope.

Gionni’s clean-sung vocals arrive and dramatically soar, joining their own slow lament to the dissonant wail of the guitar, but neither the striking nature of the voice nor the surfacing of deep percussive thumps relieve the music’s heartbreaking mood; the wrenching nature of the singing just makes the song even more forlorn.

The song gets much heavier too, thanks to a low-frequency arpeggio that slowly and dismally writhes like some enormous serpent and drums that feel like bone-cracking blows. The vocals hit falsetto highs, even more tormented and stricken than before, right on the bleeding edge of splintering apart.

Brittle strummed chords reappear, lessening the weight but not the song’s emotionally crushing nature, which Orbita then reinforce with those high-arcing vocals and sounds of searing pain and clawing abrasion.

A piercing extended guitar solo by the band’s founder Matt feverishly quivers, seizing and holding attention and adding strong doses of psychedelia to the affair. The rhythm section begin to hammer with urgent vigor; the guitars rake like heavy-grit sandpaper; the vocals tear themselves apart… and only grim feedback survives to the end.

Farewell to All We’ve Lost was recorded and mixed at Vacuum Studio by Enrico Baraldi. The cover artwork is a painting by Benjamin König (Hexvessel, Finnr’s Cane, Horna).

Aural Music will release the album on vinyl LP, jewel-case CD, and digital formats, and you can order it in those formats via the link below. Also below we’re streaming the album’s previously released opening song “Rotten Flowers“.

PRE-ORDER:
https://orbita999.bandcamp.com/album/farewell-to-all-we-ve-lost

ORBITA:
https://www.facebook.com/orbitaband999
https://orbita999.bandcamp.com