Artist Reviews: Orestea - Gig Reviewer Feature

by Leon

Disclaimer: This feature is purely an expression of personal opinion, and any criticism given is intended constructively. If you disagree with any part of the feature, it's fine and valid – I do not believe my views to be God's Holy Word! It is merely an expression of personal opinion, and in the big picture of life, the universe and everything means absolutely nothing. With that in mind, let's begin!

In the world of metal, it has become increasingly difficult, to the level of impossibility, to find bands that truly stand head and shoulders above the endless sea of black-guitar-toting, heavy riffing rock god wannabes. So, if you have already heard their debut EP 'Shadows Of Yesterday', or seen the guys live doing what they do best, you can imagine my reaction upon my first experience of the phenomenon (and I do not use that word lightly) that is Orestea.

I feel privileged to be able to say I got in early, bearing witness to their overpowering live sound in the cramped confines of an ACM Live Performance class, and later at the end-of-year ACM showcase at the Electric Theater in Guildford. And ever since then, their star has been continually on the rise – one mountainous high point being their set at the world-renowned Download Festival at Donington, sacred home of heavy metal.

Their debut EP, 'Shadows Of Yesterday', boasts production slicker than Bligh Reef, Alaska in 1989 (Google the last few words ;) ), not to mention fantastically heavy yet soaringly (again, a term not used lightly) melodic tunes of a consistency of quality all too rare in the CDs we are bombarded with here at Gig Reviewer. Just buy the thing – if you love metal, it's nothing less than an essential purchase. Every track's a winner, displaying a finesse and attention to detail so many bands simply fail to implement.

As well as being incredible studio musicians, Orestea have more than proven themselves as a force to be reckoned with on the live circuit, with raucous live shows all over the place demonstrating their prowess over and over again. Again, if you love metal, at least one live experience of Orestea is essential – not that one will be enough!

Finally, one of my favourite factors in the Orestea experience is the fact that, despite their abilities and achievements, every member of the band has remained humble, personable, friendly and approachable to their fans. And in the world of music as a whole this is a true rarity and unique selling point – so many others would have fallen foul of egotism and arrogance given even a taste of Orestea's achievements to date, let alone those that lie ahead of them.

Check out the band's super-flashy Myspace page here for all the further information you could possibly need. Thanks for reading!