Orange Goblin

Orange Goblin formed in London in 1995, initially under the name Our Haunted Kingdom, before settling on the moniker that would carry them through three decades of heavy music. The band was founded by vocalist Ben Ward, guitarist Joe Hoare, rhythm guitarist Pete O'Malley, bassist Martyn Millard, and drummer Chris Turner, who came together out of a shared love for acts like Groundhogs, Motörhead, Thin Lizzy, Celtic Frost, Danzig, and Black Flag. Operating under their original name, the band issued a split single in 1996 with Electric Wizard on Rise Above Records before adopting the Orange Goblin name. Their early sound, rooted in stoner and doom metal, struck a similar tone to greasy, groove-heavy outfits like Kyuss, Electric Wizard, Fu Manchu, and Witchfinder General. Beginning with 1997's frenzied Frequencies from Planet 10, Orange Goblin established themselves as both a formidable live act and a versatile studio band, delivering hefty sonic tomes built on a foundation of stoner metal and classic hard rock, bristling with nervy punk energy. The debut drew some of its lyrical inspiration from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings saga, a fitting nod given that, as the band once explained, they "wanted to have a colour in the band name, because all their heroes had colours in their names, like Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath." Follow-up records Time Travelling Blues (1998) and The Big Black (2000) continued to hew toward traditional doom and stoner metal, but the arrival of Coup de Grace in 2002 signaled a slight sonic shift, with the band beginning to flex their punk muscles, the LP including guest spots from Kyuss' John Garcia and Nebula's Tom Davies. The band truly hit its stride commercially and critically years later: after making significant waves in the underground, the band hit their commercial peak in 2012 with the release of their critically acclaimed seventh LP A Eulogy for the Damned. Along the way, the band weathered a significant lineup change when 2004's Thieving from the House of God featured a cover of ZZ Top's "Just Got Paid," and was the first Orange Goblin outing not to feature guitarist Pete O'Malley, who left to pursue a career in art, with the band electing not to replace him and continuing on as a four-piece. They continued to shift labels and sounds over the years, and left Rise Above in 2007 to sign with Sanctuary Records, who released the band's sixth album, Healing Through the Fire, which used the Great Plague of London and the Great Fire that followed as inspiration. They later moved to Candlelight Records for 2012's A Eulogy for the Damned, which topped many metal critics' best year-end lists and was followed by a massive world tour. The band went on to release further acclaimed work including 2018's The Wolf Bites Back, and celebrated major milestones such as their 25th anniversary in 2020, maintaining an unusually stable lineup with Ben Ward, Joe Hoare, and Chris Turner all remaining since the band's formation.