Orme - No Serpents, No Saviours EP

Labels: Self-Released

Formats: CD/Digital

Release Date: 23 Aug 2024

Tracklist:

1. No Serpents, No Saviours

There's a hell of a lot of discourse and misinformation doing the rounds right now, especially here in the UK. I'm all for peaceful protest but when it becomes violent, I switch off because said violence dilutes and illegitimises any such "legitimate" cause. Obviously, my small rant means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things but given what's going on across the globe right now, being aware is important. 

I'm kicking off my latest review schedule with drone/doom band Orme and their newest release single track EP (due for official release on August 23rd) called No Serpents, No Saviours, that stretches beyond twenty-four minutes. With their roots in the county that I called home for the first four years of my life, Hertfordshire (I lived in Bishop's Stortford), Orme released their debut self-titled EP in April 2023. They've since followed it up with this new EP and a split release with Wreaths (released earlier this year via Inverted Grim-Mill Recordings and the sadly departed Trepanation Recordings).

It isn’t often that I review single tracks, mainly because I feel that they don’t last long enough for me to formulate any sort of reasonable commentary. This release from Orme is different due to it’s sheer length. No Serpents, No Saviours spans just over twenty-four minutes and is made up of some of the finest drone/doom the UK has produced in a long time. When I think of similar bands; Ommadon and Bismuth spring to mind. Sadly Ommadon are no longer active, but Orme fill the void left brilliantly. 

This is just the perfect combination of epic percussion, rumbling bass, sloth-like riffs and deathly vocals. Psych influences manage to slide their way in at times, but ultimately there’s nothing bright about the sound produced here. That’s fine though because it should only herald darkness. In the case of the latter-half; beautiful yet crushing calmness, stark spoken-word samples and soaring musicianship take over. The lead-guitar work/solos encapsulate what I was just trying to convey in a much better way.

A couple of paragraphs don’t do Orme and their music justice. Merely giving a verbal taste of what’s on offer is enough for me. This is a blisteringly good EP. If you like heavy and/or really well written and performed music in general, you won’t go wrong here.

The EP isn't available to stream yet for obvious reasons but you can pre-order it both on CD or digital formats here - https://ormedroneuk.bandcamp.com/album/no-serpents-no-saviours.

Orme - https://www.facebook.com/ormedroneuk