ORBI: The Oscillating Revenge of the Background Instruments

Dutch quartet ORBI are a band without peers, consisting of three renowned classical musicians and Hollands finest blues rock Hammond player. Bram van Sambeek (bassoon), Sven Figee (Hammond Organ), Rick Stotijn (double bass) and Marijn Korff de Gidts (drums, percussion) bonded over a shared love of progressive hard rock and metal. Their instruments of choice are not in the spotlights that often, hence the title of their album, The Oscillating Revenge of the Background Instruments, on which they play well-known songs by bands like Led Zeppelin, Muse, Metallica, Alkaloid, and Pink Floyd.

While they are not the first to try to dress up rock and metal in classical attire - check the second hand crates for orchestras doing the sane and of course the Finnish cello quartet Apocalyptica - ORBI are tackling it with a whole new palette of sound. Can a bassoon sound like a guitar? Try shouting down the mouthpiece and you can fool the listeners ears quite convincingly. A double bass can give Jimmy Page something to think about too. Case in point: Since I've been Loving You is turned into a note perfect blues exercise that honours the tight but losse approach of Led Zeppelin. Dream Theater have a tendency to be a bit bombastic and self-indulgent when they play Octavarium, but they narrowed it down to a piece of music that could have been written by Igor Stravinsky in a mellow mood. Metallica's Cliff Burton, bass player extraordinaire who single-handedly turned a struggling trash metal act into a risk taking powerhouse, is honoured with three tracks (Fight Fire With Fire, Orion, and (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth).

The Oscillating Revenge of the Background Instruments would have been a pipe dream without the arranging skills of Marijn van Prooijen whose hard work and good ears provided ORBI with the sheet music that is a perfect balance between skills and the obvious joy of rocking out. Watch them having fun in the video for Fight Fire With Fire, with Sven Figee unleashing his inner Jon Lord. This is classic rock like you never heard it before.

The Oscillating Revenge of the Background Instruments is released via BIS Records.

Tracks:

1. Uprising (Muse)
2. Since I've been Loving You (Led Zeppelin)
3. Octavarium (Dream Theater)
4. Fight Fire With Fire (Metallica)
5. Hey you (Pink Floyd)
6. Orion (Metallica)
7. Proclamation (Gentle Giant)
8. Motivy (Emil Tabakov)
9. (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth (Metallica)
10. Supermassive Black Hhole (Muse)
11. Cthulhu (Alkaloid)
12. Alabama song (The Doors)

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