ORCHID Tropic of Capricorn Celebrating a decade of fulfilling ominous acid rock fantasies, San Francisco’s Orchid is in a pretty good place right now. Not specifically the sunny sidewalk outside of guitarist Mark Thomas Baker’s home in Petaluma, CA, but thereabouts and getting closer every day. Predicated on the vibrant vocals of Theo Mindell, who also plays percussion and synths, along with bassist Keith Nickel’s surf-worshipping undertow and Baker’s exotically organic guitar strains, Orchid is easily next best thing to having Pentagram play your quinceañera. Firmly rooted in the lush loam of ‘70s psych-rock, Orchid’s musical virtuosity melds traditional American blues and hard rock influences with a flair for emulating British heavy metal mainstays; earning them frequent comparisons to the likes of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. “We try to write classic rock songs and every song that we’ve ever worked on is really hook-oriented and constructed around Theo’s vocal lines,” says Baker. “A lot of bands I hear are obviously coming up with riffs and trying to write vocals over that. I don’t know if it’s a signature thing, but our songs are written around vocals and not really based on the riff so much.” Regaled for their head-noddingly good 2009 debut EP, Through the Devil’s Doorway and subsequent 2011 LP, Capricorn, Orchid were signed to the Nuclear Blast record label in 2012. They released their EP Heretic that same year with the full-length album Mouth of Madness following in 2013. With two LPs and a fistful of EPs to their current credit, the career retronauts behind Orchid are now Orchid is celebrating a decade of fulfilling ominous acid rock fantasies. faced with their biggest musical challenge: creating new and interesting compositions that hold their interest (and hopefully the audience’s too) while still sounding like themselves. “That is a battle for sure,” he confirms. “I think you can’t get too hung up on what you’ve done in the past and you have to keep creating and finding things that keep you excited about your music. If you just chase your tail and try to produce work that you think your fans want to hear, that can really lead to failure. There’s no point trying to guess what people want from you, cuz I don’t know. They just want the Capricorn album over and over again! But you can’t really step back in time and be the person you were. We’ve got all these years of experience between us and that time. Everything that’s influenced us in those years is coming out in what we’re doing now.” After forging ahead with their fourth EP, Sign of the Witch (May, 2015), Orchid found themselves adrift in the doom miasma as they sought a new drummer to anchor their quartet. The ongoing process of adjustment and acceptance has done little to diminish the band’s desire to create compelling songs by Christine Leonard and perform them in front of adoring crowds. Regardless of these inevitable upheavals, Baker portends that the natural potential of Orchid is still emerging and that their artistic friendships are growing deeper even as their audience and influence expands. “I think that the next album that we’re writing now is going to be awesome. We’re really excited to do it and I think it’s going to have ties to our past as well as some steps into the future, whatever that may be. It’s so hard to say, because there’s a new member in the mix,” Baker continues, referring to new drummer Tommy, who is not yet a permanent member of the band. Cultivating an ear for improvisation while satisfying vocalist Mindell’s obsession with artistic perfection, heretical guitarist Baker acknowledges that Orchid will never produce elevator tunes for the mall-roving masses. But on the other hand, he is equally quick to admit that hearing Orchid’s heavily-grooved anthem “Eyes Behind the Wall” used as bumper music during a World Series radio broadcast was one of the proudest moments of his life. “I had all these people messaging me, ‘Dude, KNBR is playing your song for the Giants’ game!’ So that was a really cool thing for me to have something associated with my favourite sports team. But as far as accessibility or what people want, we’re not that concerned about it. We’re not popular enough, I don’t think. I wouldn’t worry about having hits or singles.” Orchid performs on <strong>November</strong> 5th with Napalmpom and Temple at The Palomino Smokehouse in Calgary. STEVE GRIMMETT’S GRIM REAPER returns rock fans to hell once more with 4th full-length See you in hell my friends! Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper plays <strong>Alberta</strong> in <strong>November</strong>! In the midst of a pile of discarded bones a stone tablet reads ‘Fear the Reaper. No One Escapes His Evil Power.’ The year is 1985 and visions of a monstrous humanoid hellhound consume the television sets of headbangers everywhere. Battling the encapsulation of evil is a foursome of leather-clad heavy metal warriors, defining the core of the genre and proving the power of pummeling riffs over any exterior force. Leading the brigade known as Grim Reaper is Steve Grimmett, who may appear to be a mere mortal prior to unveiling an unfathomably powerful voice. After releasing three sacred full-lengths in the ‘80s long worshipped by defenders of the lead based, harmonically driven traditional metal, a brief chapter with thrash metal outfit Onslaught, and countless other masterful musical endeavours, Grimmett returned to his roots in 2006 when he banded together Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper. Fresh from the fire is Walking in the Shadows, and regardless of it being the first full-length released under the Grim Reaper belt in nearly 30 years, it is equally as punishing as all the rest. “For us it was very important to do this,” Grimmett recounts on the continuance of the traditional roots of his latest album. “Ian [Nash, guitars] and I have been writing and recording songs for years always improving our craft, now I’m not saying we were going backwards in writing this album but we wanted some consistency, to make it the fourth album, not only in song structure but old school recording techniques, so, we recorded drums, bass and guitars the old school way. I recorded the instruments in my studio so I know there is nothing added, there are no samples in there at all, and I’m sure you agree we hit the mark.” Led footing on the accelerator of Walking in the Shadows is the metallic and aggressive anthem, “Wings of Angels.” Not unlike nearly every song included in their discography, the chorus is the pinnacle, encouraging pounding fists and banging heads by the masses. Altogether, the album is comprised of 12 tracks true to the traditional structures with an old school feel uncommon with modern metal releases. By no means is it a complete throwback to the group’s earlier work, but with the addition of a band that contains no previous Grim Reaper members, Grimmett perfectly demonstrates how he has mastered his craft throughout his extensive and colourful musical journey that started way back in 1979. It was then that Grim Reaper caught their big break in 1979 when they won a battle of the bands competition. An idea easily romanticized, yet apparently not so. “It was horrific and I swore I would never put myself through that again, but it was as the start of all you see. We won 24 hours in a 24 track studio, we made a demo that I gave to Ebony Records and the rest is history.” by Breanna Whipple The decade that followed saw the band release See You in Hell (1983) and Fear No Evil (1985) via Ebony, and then get picked up by larger label RCA for their grand finale Rock You To Hell (1987). Unfortunately, the album didn’t perform as well as the label expected in the American market, and the band was unceremoniously dropped. They broke up shortly after in 1988, but were resurrected by Grimmett in 2006 as a solo project, which also became the lineup for Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper. Staying true to methods of the old regardless of the vast changes in the music industry, Grimmett still values the importance of touring. “It’s the only way we can reach out and see our fans, it’s the hardest work I have ever done but the most rewarding,” he says. “One of the most fortunate things about my band is we all get along, the fun starts at the airport and continues until we get home so every day is a highlight.” Fanatics may wonder why Grimmett has taken the initiative to rock his fans to hell once more. The answer lies within them. “I will always look after our fans, because without them we can’t do this, they are passionate about their music, and you can’t beat that, and to be fair that’s the whole world over. It’s a true brotherhood and it’s bloody fantastic.” Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper performs in Calgary, <strong>Alberta</strong> on <strong>November</strong> 16th at Distortion and in Edmonton, <strong>Alberta</strong> on <strong>November</strong> 17th at the Mercury Room. 50 | NOVEMBER <strong>2016</strong> • BEATROUTE SHRAPNEL
Danielle French Presents MISS SCARLETT & the Madmen Dark Love Songs CD Release Party Thurs., Nov. 17 Wine Ohs