Labels: Self-Released/Zegema Beach Records
Formats: CD/Digital
Released: 11 May 2026
Tracklist:-
1. Ailments
2. Lampmaster
3. Frail Forms
4. Viscera Coffin
5. The Same Emptiness
6. Show Me the Way
7. Void Eyes
8. Acidic Prism
It's back to reality with a bang this week! Post-holiday blues suck. What doesn't suck though is that Oprhan Donor released a new album back in May! It was self-released digitally by the band, while ZBR did a run of 100 digipak CDs. Grind meets metal meets noise-rock meets skramz.
Pennsylvania’s Orphan Donor are building a reputation for colourful, eye-catching album art (courtesy of @melted.gif here) and music that’s a beast all of its own. Starting off with the album title-track ‘Ailments’, you’re greeted with a very calm intro song with gentle trumpet and percussion. It’s got a soft jazz vibe, though that vibe doesn’t stick around for long, as ‘Lampmaster’ is where the heaviness kicks in. There’s atonal noise, which at times sounds industrial. There’s grindcore in several different time signatures and belligerent vocals that pierce through it all. Give it to your “average” music listener and they’d hate it, but it works.
From that insanity, ‘Frail Forms’ sounds oddly more structured as Orphan Donor deliver a sludge/noise-rock song that threatens to descend into sonic madness once again but stops just short. There’s me trying to make sense of it all, when I really can’t! ‘Viscera Coffin’ is a fine case in point as it’s a sub one-minute barrage of everything and all sorts. I have my window open to let in some cool air. I’m smiling manically because it’s also letting out this glorious racket.
Ailments isn’t a long record and in what seems like the blink of an eye, it’s already half-way through and ‘The Same Emptiness’ is coming at you like a black-jazz odyssey (except it’s only a little over thirty seconds). Familiar territory is sort of back on the horizon thanks to ‘Show Me the Way’, in that it’s one that opens with an instrumental noise-rock feel. The latter half is a twisting, gurning mass of grindcore and sludgy interludes.
Penultimate song ‘Void Eyes’ is unlike anything else here. Yes, it’s grinding but the trumpet sounds like a malfunctioning air raid siren (which fits perfectly) and there’s a sense that Orphan Donor just threw caution to the wind, not that the rest of the album is an easy listen or anything! Closing it all out with ‘Acidic Prism’, there’s no time for pleasantries. Blasting noise punctuated by brief moments of off-kilter guitar, as screams fade in and out, and where the trumpet looms ominously in the final bars.
Some might say that I’m poking fun at Orphan Donor with this review, but I’m not. Honestly, I don’t waste time writing about music I don’t like. I do like this. Ailments rules and Orphan Donor create noise that’s so infectious. Go and spin it all the time!
You can stream Ailments below, where it's available to buy digitally or on CD directly from Orphan Donor:-
If you want a CD copy and live in Canada or Internationally, you can grab one from Zegema Beach Records here - http://www.zegemabeachrecords.com/zegema-beach-releases/ailments.
Orphan Donor Instagram - @orphan_donor
Zegema Beach Records Instagram - @zegema_beach
