Review ORO ‘Vid vägs ände’

ORO is hailing from Örebro, Sweden and shouldn’t be mixed-up with a band from Gothenburg, sharing the same moniker. The five-piece from middle Sweden is looking forward to their 10-years anniversary next year and to add a bit more music to their list of achievements Oro launch with ‘Vid vägs ände’ their sophomore release.

In total five songs made it on the album and each of the tracks is a demanding and hard to digest musical. The band plays a mixture of doom, sludge and post metal which means that fans of colorful moments in life can stop reading here.

‘Vid vägs ände’ is a soul crushing album that accompanies you on a journey into darkness. It feels like each note carrying a Weltschmerz, leading to a gloomy sound in which despair is an emotion that rises.

The start into the album is representative and with 10 minutes running time also unusual. Starting with a dark intro the song evolves to a mighty and thumping doom monster that slowly takes over your soul. It like the gates to the underworld opens and allow the purgatory to throw flames at you.

In a way the opener is the direction giving musical assault that finds its continuation in ‘Vid vägs ände’. ‘Bältäd’ is the halftime song on the album, and it is sadness and grief that takes over. A calm and sinister intro paves the way for a song that shows the post metal links before a twist towards a blackened inferno unveils the hellish grin.

ORO stay true to the musical concept also towards the end of their second album. ‘Siare’ and dramatic ‘Treriksröset’ are two more songs, being the soundtrack for a journey into the realms of grief.

‘Vid vägs ände’ puts its black blanket over your soul and mind. This album is intense and fits perfectly into the dark winter times. It’s a thrilling release and is a massive riff firework, supported by a production that gives the album an exquisite sound. This album is worth to be checked-out.