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Orange Spotlight: Lowen

Who are Lowen?

Nina: Lowen is Nina Saeidi on vocals, santoor, daf and shruti box, Shem Lucas on guitars and bass and Cal Constantine on Drums. When we play shows we also are joined by a live bassist.

Our music is written to convey the sense of isolation and liminality that forms my experience of being born in exile from Iran. The rich mythology of the region, its history and stories are combined with the high metaphor of science fiction to create a sense of connection and shared narrative to include anyone who has ever felt like they don’t belong.

The word “Lowen” comes from the root “lion”, which is a shared symbol in the east and west. It represents power, chaos and a meeting of two cultures within our band and music.

Shem: Nina and I met at the front row of an Akercocke show in our home town of London and Nina expressed interest in forming a metal band that drew on Middle Eastern rhythms and musicality. Originally Nina wanted to be the bass player in the band and had no experience as a vocalist. I wrote a demo, which would later become the song Krenko’s Command from our first album, and sent it to her. When she sent it back with some vocal ideas recorded over the top it became very evident that she should be the singer for the band, and quite quickly the focal point of the band shifted to being based on Nina’s experiences, culture, ideas and knowledge.

I think a lot of great bands have fallen by the wayside due to bickering and different people vying to be the centre of attention. I really enjoy playing a supporting role within the band and helping Nina realise her vision. The joy I derive from being part of a collective is far greater than any I would get on a personal level, I don’t really like attention that much.

Me and Nina have always been the core of the band. I actually used to see myself more as a bass player than a guitarist, so I tend to write all the guitar and bass parts in the band in conjunction with Nina and then we have a live bass player, and Cal Constantine on drums. Cal’s incredible drumming really helped to elevate the different eastern rhythms in the band and that’s something that really helps us stand out.

What inspires Lowen?

Nina: My inspiration comes from my experiences as someone who never felt a sense of belonging or acceptance for most of my life. I found refuge in art, history and literature from a young age and have found that somewhere between the flight of imagination and the crushing weight of ancient history there is occasionally a fleeting sense of home. From an early age I hungrily read any fantasy or science fiction I could get my hands on and have constantly consumed literature of all types since. William Blake, Mervyn Peake, Ursula K. Le Guin, Tamora Pierce, Victor Hugo and Robert Jordan are among many authors who have directly inspired my lyrical style and content as well as the curation of our merch and album art. Artists like Francis Bacon, John Martin, Blake and Albrecht Dürer, led me to appreciate the incredible oeuvre of Hervé Scott Flament, who’s work we are very grateful to have on the covers of all our releases.

Musically I draw inspiration from many genres, from 70s prog like Atomic Rooster, Wishbone Ash and Rare Bird to death metal bands like Death, Bolt Thrower and Akercocke. Iranian artists such as Fereydoon Foroughi, Googoosh and the Shajarians are core influences that must be mentioned when answering this question.

The poetry and history of ancient Mesopotamia and Iran deeply informs the music and lyrics of Lowen. I have spent years studying various transliterations and treatises on cuneiform tablets to form a basic but enthusiastic understanding of the stunning literary history of the region. There is something powerful and meaningful about connecting with ancient voices and stories that are stored in languages no longer spoken and barely understood.

Our new album “Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran” is directly influenced by an eponymous chapter of the Shahnameh, also known as the Persian Book of Kings. It contains a collected mythology, history and folk narrative of Iran in the form of an epic poem consisting of more than 50,000 couplets. The story of this chapter concerns the folly of King Kay Kavus and his ill fated expedition to conquer the wild and enchanted region of Mazandaran.

Shem: We all have an eclectic taste in music and Nina is inspired by a variety of Iranian folk artists, ancient history, inscriptions from ruins, mythical beasts, science fiction, aliens and more. The Shahnameh, also known as the Persian Book of Kings is the main inspiration of our new album “Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran.”

I myself am inspired by a lot of mostly Doom and Death Metal such as: Disembowelment, Lykathea Aflame, Pestilence, Death, Bolt Thrower, Akercocke, Artificial Brain, Depeche Mode, Admiral Angry, Immolation, Asphyx, Rush, Morbid Angel, Afterbirth, Confessor, Creepmime, Tears for Fears, Dying Fetus, Immortal Bird, Cathedral, Solitude Aeternus and many more, I’m also quite into fusion music and really inspired particularly by Chick Correa and Return to Forever, and I’m a huge fan of Allan Holdsworth as well.

Musically, we fuse a Middle-eastern inspired approach to Maqam and Iranian folk music to western death and doom metal instrumentation, but also bring in more interesting influences alongside that, especially when it comes to mixed meter rhythms and a variety of time signatures that stray from being in standard 4/4. We incorporate a lot of traditional middle eastern rhythms, as well as some North African ones.

The first album was a lot simpler musically, and more traditionally doom metal, the long gap between albums has allowed us to really study different forms and incorporate them into our sound.

What Orange gear is important to Lowen?

Shem: For our first album “A Crypt In the Stars”, all the guitar is recorded with a Pignose Detonator boost pedal going into a cranked Orange CR120 head dirty channel. I tried all kinds of different combinations in the run up to recording and that combo really stood out to me.

The new album features a wide variety of amps including the CR120. When playing live I use an amp modeller to access all these different tones. I tried a variety of power amps that I didn’t get on with to power my cabinet onstage until I saw a post online where someone had seen Conjurer support Carcass using an Orange Pedal Baby. This was my first encounter with them, and after doing a bit of research I realised that the Pedal Baby would be a perfect fit for me.

Sometimes a situation will arise where you have to use house cabinets and you don’t know what their ohm resistance will be until the day. The fact that the wattage of the Pedal Baby only drops to 75 watts in a 16 ohm cab instead of 25 is a big draw for me. In different styles of music it wouldn’t be a big deal but if you’re trying to create oppressively thick atmospheres having extra volume on tap is crucial.

I also love that it doesn’t sound sterile, it adds its own little something extra to the sound and it also really helps me make use of controlled feedback as part of our sound, that’s something I wasn’t able to do with any other similar device. I like the flexibility of modelling software, but this way I also get to have the best of both worlds. I’m a huge fan of the Pedal Baby and I swear by it and really appreciate the design philosophy Orange used when making it with a travelling musician’s needs in mind.

Future Orange amps?

Shem: I think for the next album I’d like to experiment more with edge of breakup tones as that’s not something we’ve really done yet, and I like the idea of giving Nina new textures to explore and work with. I’d like to get an Orange 2×10 as I’m using a 4×12 at the moment and now that we’re playing larger venues we’re starting to have to incorporate more complex backline and I think I’d be happy to switch to a smaller stage cab and let the PA do more of the work. The newer material is more technical and less reliant on bludgeoning walls of sound, though there’s still plenty of that in there.

We also would like to get one of the Orange Isobaric Bass cabs for onstage as we’ve tried one before and it sounded fantastic.

What does Orange mean to you?

Shem: I can’t remember the first time I saw an Orange amp, but I’ve always been drawn to them and have really enjoyed a lot of music made with them and by artists that play through them, I love their unique look, my first practice amp was an Orange 35 crush and I still have it, I played my first gigs with it and have fond memories of opening it and playing it for the first time.

What’s the most memorable Lowen moment?

Shem: As I type this we’re still on the road with Green Lung for our first UK/Ireland Tour and it has been an incredible experience, they have shown us tremendous kindness and we have learned a lot from all of them, We’re very grateful for the opportunity and have been absolutely blown away by the response from the audiences across the tour. Sharing a tour bus with them has been wild and a lot of fun! We’ve made a lot of memories and I really hope that we can do for another band one day what Green Lung have done for us. A rising tide raises all ships and musicians and bands have to support each other and help pull each other up, as we all benefit from each other’s success.

Nina: The Green Lung tour has been by far one of the most memorable moments for us as a band. We were so lucky to have this experience be our first tour and to do be able to do it with the incredibly kind and supportive people that are Green Lung and their team. The crowds and friends that we shared the many highs of the tour with will always be part of my most treasured memories.

What’s on the horizon for Lowen?

Shem: Our new album “Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran” will usher in a new era for us. We have a whole bunch of great shows and festivals booked currently and some things coming further down the line that we can’t talk about yet. Musically I am going to keep studying and trying to improve myself both as a person and as a guitar player and composer. Nina has a lot of excellent ideas when we’re writing songs together and our musical language has become more advanced over time and I look forward to seeing where we can take that and what the reception to the album will be like.

Nina: We will continue to make art and hone our craft as musicians. We have many plans within plans and hope that they come to fruition.

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Live pictures by Lee Lewis

Main picture by Aija Miranda

by Joe Gray

Articles, Spotlight

Orange Spotlight: Godless Suns

Who are Godless Suns?

Pete – Guitars

Sarah – Bass/Vox

Dan – Drums

Sarah & I (Pete) are married (23 years at the time of writing) and have been in bands together for 21 years, 15 years as ZOCALO and the last 6 as GODLESS SUNS, we put out feelers for a drummer in the area, had a few cool auditions, including our good pal David Himbury of Gevauden and a few others, but Dan’s enthusiasm/talent/top blokeish-ness won out in the end.

Turns out Dan used to watch us play in Zocalo back in the day, we had no idea.

When ZOCALO called it a day, I didn’t want to stop playing and writing and Sarah wanted to change musical styles and do some low end carnage, so whilst watching Blues Brothers 2000 we both started signing the song that’s playing as they drive up to Queen Musettes(?) battle of the bands, which happened to be the Blues Brothers cover of Season of the Witch and that was our original name.

However, every band is Witch this, Bong that or Wizard something in our genre, so we embraced our inner sci-fi/gamer nerds and imagined what worlds without a deity would be like and came up with a story and put it to music. A bit like Marvels ‘Watcher’ from the ‘What if….’ series, we tell stories of societies from planets of GODLESS SUNS.

Godless Suns started in 2016 after ZOCALO ended and we are based in South London/Southampton

Our music has been described as Desert-Doom, a cross between DOWN, C.O.C., Clutch and the standard sprinkling of Black Sabbath.

What inspires Godless Suns?

Ah, the never ending question, sooooo many to choose from. As a whole band….. most likely CLUTCH, we all 100% love them.

We also take inspiration from books, especially The Black Library, movies and the motivation I get from watching my friends succeed

What is life without music? I don’t even want to imagine what hell-scape that would be.

What Orange gear is important to Godless Suns?

Home practice is my Super Crush 100, epic tones at controllable levels without wearing out my main gigging amp the Rockerverb 100 MKIII. Live it’s all about he Rockerverb, not that the Super Crush can’t do it, far from it in fact, it’s a perfectly capable amp, but there’s a little gear snob in us all, so it’s punishing glass for live for me.

Sarah has a headphone amp she uses for home practice, then makes our trousers flap with the Terror Bass both live and at practice.

Both of us started using Orange 7 years ago, and it’s a habit we have no intention of stopping.

Future Orange amps?

Definitely some thought going into a Pedal Baby 100 and a Fur Coat fuzz for a travel/flight rig.

The OR30 is a tasty piece of kit, and the Dual Dark tickles the pickle somewhat, but I’m out of kidneys to sell for the moment.

We would love to see a separate attenuator for the amps that don’t come with one built in so folk can enjoy their ear busting tones at more social levels.

What does Orange mean to you?

As stated earlier, Orange is the bedrock of the Godless Suns tone, and we have no intention of changing anytime soon. All other amps can lead to outbreaks of scurvy

The very first time we saw Orange amps being used live was at a Corrosion of Conformity gig. We got that warm and fuzzy feeling.

We always associate Orange with musicians with taste, quality British design, and that I’m most likely at the right gig.

What really made us want to go with Orange, of all the amps I tried out and already owned (previously a dyed in the wool PEAVEY guy), Orange just did it for me. The tone, the back shattering weight, the legacy, Orange has it all.

Having gotten to know a few of the guys at the HQ and seen their involvement and support for our genre and scene here in London, I can only say that all other brands are sorely lacking by your example.

What’s the most memorable Godless Suns moment?

It’s a toss up between our 4th gig ever being invited to play the BLOODSTOCK V.I.P. Stage and returning in ’21 for a Jager stage appearance and this years Masters of the Riff where we got to play with many of our friends and bands we admire.

What’s on the horizon for Godless Suns?

Writing, writing, writing, writing. A short south coast tour with Famyne in September. Writing, writing, writing, demos, writing, demos, record album #2 (fingers crossed)

It’s hard to see the future of a band, at the moment we’re really comfortable in our lane, playing awesome shows with awesome bands, making friends and writing tunes. It’s not stressful and it’s still fun, and for now, that’s what’s important for us. But if someone wants to take a million pound punt on us then we’re good with that to.

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For photo credit please contact us at [email protected]

by Joe Gray

Articles, Spotlight

Orange Spotlight: Elephant Tree

Who are Elephant Tree?

[Sam] We are Elephant Tree, currently consisting of Jack Townley, Peter Holland, Sam Hart and John Slattery. The band initially was just Jack and Sam when working as runners at a London post-production studio in 2014. We met Pete out at the pub one night and invited him for a jam. Amazingly, he showed up! John came along later to the same studio and initially was more tasked with taking photos and video on tours and in the studio. In 2018, he joined and came on tour around the EU. We used to be all London-based but in the last few years Jack has moved to Kent and Sam has moved up north to Yorkshire. The name came from looking for random names online and just wanting something as a placeholder to label audio files. Sam Googled “messed up books” and found some random list that mentioned The Elephant Tree. We dropped the ‘The’ and then the name just stuck. The book is pretty good actually so that’s a bonus.

What Orange gear is important to Elephant Tree?

John has a Rockerverb 50 MK2

Pete has a Terror Bass, and also an Orange Crush Pro 120 which he uses sometimes in his other band Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight.

Jack has a Rockerverb 50 MK3

Future Orange amps?

[Johnnie Two Thumbs] I like the attenuation features of the Rockerverb Mk3 which might be of use when home playing, but I am also really happy with my Mk2 50 watt.

[Pete] I would like to get my hands on some of the Orange effects pedals to give them a go. The Acoustic Pre or the Phaser would probably be the ones I would be most interested in. Or the Bass Butler bass preamp pedal.

[Jack] It’s probably quite a boring answer but I’ve been meaning to get my hands on an Orange 412 to match the head I have – I’ve been borrowing Pete’s 412 for several years now so it’s probably long overdue. I have seen that you offer a version that is a bit lighter than the regular one which is always of interest!

What does Orange mean to you?

[Jack] When I was growing up I received a combo amp from my parents, and it was the best. It was really exciting to play loud and sounded good! I’m not sure what happened to that amp but I’ll always remember the excitement I had back then as I turned it on. We started Elephant Tree ten years ago after seeing a show at the Underworld in Camden that was full of Orange amps, they sounded (and looked) amazing! I was pretty blown away. We started playing shows and I didn’t have my own amp. I used venue amps or people lent me amps, some of which were Orange. Fast forward some years later and I was put in hospital by an unfortunately placed lamppost. After a while I returned to playing. I was then lucky enough to get an Orange amp of my own. When I switched it on I got that same excitement that I had all those years ago. Orange to me is very much freedom and sound.

What’s the most memorable Elephant Tree moment?

[Sam] There are almost too many moments to choose from, whether it’s memorable performances like opening up DesertFest in The Roundhouse or playing that one time to a lone dog in a cafe in northern France (the dog proceeded to fall asleep) just as we were starting out. Then there’s the people and hijinx you get up to on tours, seeing the world, drinking questionable concoctions, eating even more questionable ‘food’. The thing that sticks out the most though is the first practice back after Jack’s accident. All of us getting back into the room together and having that harsh reset, not knowing how things were going to go and then absolutely smashing it again as if we’d never paused. It really brings it back down to earth and made us realise why we are in the band in the first place and that’s to hang out and make loud cool music together as brothers.

What’s on the horizon for Elephant Tree?

We have a 10 year anniversary album of B-sides and rarities called “Handful of Ten” out in September celebrating the anniversary of the band through Magnetic Eye Records, as well as featuring on their Jethro Tull covers record. There’s also a split record “The Long Forever” with the excellent Lowrider which will be coming out through Post Wax. There’s a few shows we have booked at the end of 2024 with a little stint around the UK over a few weekends in September, before heading to do a double bill at The Black Heart in Camden as a little pre-Christmas treat. 2025 is slowly starting to be filled with some further afield dates but you’ll have to wait a little longer and keep your eyes and ears open for those.

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by Joe Gray

Articles, Spotlight

Orange Spotlight: Desert Storm

Who are Desert Storm?

Matthew Ryan – Vocals
Ryan Cole – Guitar
Elliot Cole – Drums
Matthew Dennett – Bass
Chris White – Guitar (Studio / writing only)

Desert Storm are a five piece progressive heavy metal band that have been dealing crushing riffs and grooves into earholes for the past 17 years. Hailing from Oxford, the city of screaming spires, the quintet deliver their own unique brand of heavy music. The sound is loud and unforgiving, but also woven with elation and electrical ecstasy. For Fans of – Black Sabbath, Crowbar, Neurosis, Mastodon

Desert Storm formed in 2007 after me (Ryan), Elliot and Matt, who we met at secondary school, decided we wanted to form a band and start jamming. We asked Chris White (guitar – studio) to join, who we’ve known since we were young and rocked with in a school band previously. The only bassist we knew was another old school friend – Chris Benoist. Chris (Benoist) was in the band for almost 15 years, but left due to not having the time to commit anymore, but we’ve remained good friends. We replaced him with Matt Dennett, who we have known from gigging with his other band Battalions, he lives in Hull, so it’s quite a trek for him, but he seems committed!
The name Desert Storm came simply because we didn’t have any other ideas that were as good, it was supposed to be temporary, but we started gigging a lot and eventually everyone knew the band as Desert Storm, so we just stuck with it.

What inspires Desert Storm?

We as a collective have quite an eclectic taste in music. Many things inspire us – the love of other bands we look up to (Black Sabbath, Metallica, Tool, Kyuss, Clutch, Karma To Burn, Mastodon to name a few), hearing great guitar riffs / guitar-based music is an obvious inspiration and reason why myself and Chris (White) learnt the instrument in the first place. Matt (Ryan) will often write lyrics to our music rather than them being pre-written. He lets that dictate his thoughts / moods / feelings before jotting lyrical ideas down. Sometimes other forms of art – film, games or personal life experiences have inspired songs to be written in the band as well.

What Orange gear is important to Desert Storm?

I am currently using an Orange Rockerverb 100 through an PPC-412 speaker cabinet. I’ve had the amp for about 15 years now, and it just rules! It’s loud, and the tone is just perfect for what we do. You see some bands whacking in fuzz pedals etc (which is great in places, don’t get me wrong) but for me the natural sound this amp provides is all I’ve ever needed. This is my first and only Orange amp I have owned, but I am looking at some more!

Future Orange amps?

We are doing more fly in shows these days, so I’d like to get an Orange head that is ideal for transporting. I’d like to try the Dual or Dark Terrors. On recent fly-ins I’ve ended up using mostly Marshall JCM 800’s which are great, but sometimes you don’t know what you will get, and that is why i need my own! When we flew to Oslo I used an Orange TH30 though which was awesome. I recently used a Rockerverb 100 MK III at a festival and that was fantastic, probably one for the future too!

What does Orange mean to you?

Orange is awesome. I’ve always loved the look and design of them as well as the sound. The first time I remember seeing Orange amps was as a teenager in PMT, and I remember thinking how much it stood out and how cool it looked. Then I noticed a wall of Orange amps during a Down show, and more and more bands seemed to be using them. The first amp I owned was a Marshall MG 50DFX which was a cool little combo, but when Chris (White) started using his Mesa Boogie Tremoverb or Diezel, I knew I needed something louder. First I had a Randall RH 100 camo head & cab which was a great solid state amp but eventually I wanted a valve amp…so I went to PMT and tried out a Blackstar and the Orange Rockerverb 100, it was then that I bought the Orange and I’ve been using it ever since – live and in the studio. I have a Sovtek as a back up, but I’ve only used it live a handful of times as the Orange is so reliable.

I think there are quite a lot of doom, stoner and sludge bands using Orange amps these days and I can see why – Killer tones!

What’s the most memorable Desert Storm moment?

We’ve had a lot of memorable moments over the years that it’s hard to pick just one. A few highlights that spring to mind are getting booked for mainstage at this years Bloodstock Open Air & performing on the Sophie Stage at Bloodstock (2016, 2021). Some other great festival slots were at Wasted Open Air (Germany), Langeln Open Air (Germany), Into the void (Netherlands), HRH Ibiza (Spain) and Desertfest (London & Berlin). We’ve had some memorable tours too, including headline UK & European tours, as well as support slot tours with the likes of Skindred, Red Fang, Orange Goblin, Corrosion of Conformity, Karma To Burn, Peter Pan Speedrock, Raging Speedhorn, Crowbar, Honky, American Head Charge, Nashville Pussy and Weedeater to name a few. Hopefully a lot more to come!

What’s on the horizon for Desert Storm?

We finished up a 2-week headline UK / European tour in April, promoting the latest album ‘Death Rattle’ (which came out last year on APF Records). Coming up we have a mainstage slot on the Friday at Bloodstock Open Air with the likes of Opeth, Clutch, Hatebreed & Green Lung. We also visit Leon, Spain later in the year for a fly in show. As well as these shows there are a few other weekenders in the works which should be announced shortly, we will continue writing for the next album as well, and we have 2 new songs in the bag already.
For the future, we’ll keep doing our thing, writing and releasing music and touring hard.

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by Joe Gray

Articles, Spotlight

Orange Spotlight: Ritual King

Who are Ritual King?

Ritual King are a 3-piece Hard Rock, Psychedelic, Blues band based in Manchester UK. It’s here where we all met during our studies, but we’ve all shared a deep passion for music. To introduce the band, we have Jordan Leppitt on guitar and lead vocals, Gareth Hodges on drums and backing vocals, then Daniel Godwin on bass with a rhythm guitar split.

Our style of music has been tweaked over the 8 years we’ve been a band, but we see it as more of a development. We’ve learnt what we’re comfortable playing, and what connects best with the people that support our music, however, we aren’t afraid to experiment to keep things interesting.

What inspires Ritual King?

Collectively we’ve been huge fans of Elder, and ever since Gareth discovered the album Lore, we’ve seen them at multiple shows, bought their merch and listen to their songs on repeat. There are other bands that we take inspiration from, to mention a few there’s Earthless, Weedpecker, Atomic Bitchwax, and King Buffalo, but we still keep to our own style when it comes to our writing process. To be fair, we all listen to a very wide variety of music, and we take inspiration from anything that strikes our interest at the time. For example, Jordan may listen to some folk one day, then change to hip hop the next, and Danny regularly switches between dubstep and funk. .

What Orange gear is important to Ritual King?

Starting with lead guitar, Jordan has the TH100 paired with the PPC412 cab. He’s owned this combination for over 10 years, and even with the limited EQ functionality, it’s still diverse enough for him to create a fuzzed out lead distortion, and a smooth clean tone. The only thing that’s changed with his set-up are his pedals.

For Danny, his first Orange bass amp was an OB1-500, as he wanted use the Bi-amp feature to get a thicker sound, which would fill the spaces whilst Jordan does his solo’s. Now he’s upgraded greatly since then, so he has a AD200 (Paired with OBC410 and OBC115) for his bass, and a split signal into a Crush Pro 120 (Paired with PPC412 cab) for a rhythm guitar effect. It was just an experiment that stuck when it was all pieced together. To describe the sound, the bass tone is very warm with added fuzz to cut through and rumble the floor, but the guitar split has a solid distortion that greatly carries the songs without losing momentum.

Future Orange amps?

As the band start travelling more, we’re probably going to look at some of the more portable options in terms of amps. The Tiny Terrors have always been great amps, or even the Terror Stamp would be a good option. Admittedly we haven’t tried the Orange pedal range as they’re relatively new to us, but they do look very slick. We’re usually very flexible with our gear, as we’re always looking to push our sound to the next step, but we have found that the amps are perfect for diversity.

What does Orange mean to you?

From our perspective Orange has always been at the forefront of best amps to choose from, especially in the heavy rock scene. We feel that this is largely due to the fact it’s always held that retrospective classic rock tone down so well, which ties in superbly with the stoner rock we play.

We also love seeing Orange gear on stage, for sound quality and aesthetics. Aesthetically it’s by far the most beautiful amp on the market & the overall look it can bring to a stage setup is awesome. The 60s/70s retrospective style of the Orange design is brilliant. And the dynamics in sound it will bring to a band is unmatchable.

What’s the most memorable Ritual King moment?

Collectively I think we’d have to say Freak Valley Festival last June. There was a lot of anticipation leading up to what was our biggest show we’ve ever played as a band. The scene was set so perfectly with the weather being amazing on the day and all the bands and staff being so welcoming. Not only was it the biggest show and the biggest stage we’ve played on too, but we got to meet and share the stage with bands that we’ve listened to for years. We were all nervous but once we were on stage and had settled into our rhythm the nerves were replaced with adrenaline and excitement. The show went down an absolute storm & we had an incredible response from the crowd. We sold out of our merch and went on to have an awesome weekend spectating the incredible line up of FVF 2023.

What’s on the horizon for Ritual King?

This year is already shaping up to be a big one for us. Now that we’ve released our 2nd Album ‘Infinite Mirror’, our first plan is to get on the road and perform more substantial gigs. We finished a run of shows supporting 1000 Mods in April, we’ve also been invited to play festivals around Europe, and way down the line we’re planning a trip to Australia. There’s a bunch more things that’s keeping us busy, but when we get chance, we’ll be looking at writing our 3rd album.

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by Joe Gray

Articles, Spotlight

Orange Spotlight: Son Of Boar

Who are Son Of Boar?

We are Son of Boar, a 5 piece Doom outfit from Bradford, we play heavy Boarbaric wool laden Doom, the band started late in 2017, Adam (guitar), Lyndon (guitar), Luke D (Drums) were in the makings of a band. Shortly after they started Gaz joined the band on bass and Luke O joined on vocals. We had all known each other from around the local scene, playing in bands on the same line ups around the city. The music we play would be best described as Fuzzed out Groovy Doom, it’s dirty and loud but gets your head moving.

What inspires Son Of Boar?

We all have a different favourite band, but bands that are prominent amongst all band members would be Pantera, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Misfits, Orange Goblin. Anything with a groove or sounds filthy! We don’t just listen to Metal and Doom, there is a strong punk and hip hop influence on different members of the band.

What Orange gear is important to Son Of Boar?

Across the band we have a few amps, Gaz has a Terror Bass and Little Bass Thing! Adam has a Dual Dark 50, he does the main bulk of distortion between the 2 guitars, which the Dual Dark does in spades. If we are travelling Adam uses his Brent Hinds Terror, a whole lotta amp crammed into 15 watts of Orangey goodness. On the other side of the stage is Lyndon, He rocks a TH30 and a CR120, both bring a different sound to the table, and a growing number of cabs. We all kind of fell into Orange, a lot of bands we know use them and the are just really versatile, with our new stuff we are wanting dirty dark tones but we also want some nice ambient clean tones, Orange seem to really give us the best of both.

Future Orange amps?

Gaz – I’m happy with my Terror Bass and Little Bass Thing, I like to keep my rig light and save my back and both give enough power for what I need! Though if you want to make me a signature amp I won’t say no!
Adam – Probably a Dark Terror for my travelling rig, and a Rockerverb, I’m a big Slipknot fan and I heard Jim Root playing one and fell in love with that amp instantly.
Lyndon – An OR30 would be my next choice to add to my arsenal followed by a Rockerverb, but really I would like them all, when I’m going through the Orange Social Media groups I see the old Orange PA systems and it would be ace to get my hands on one of them.

What does Orange mean to you?

Tough question, we associate Orange with a lot of our favourite bands, seeing them on stage, seeing the stacks and the pilot lights, waiting for bands like Monolord, Sleep or Boris to come on and blow our tiny little mind. The scene we are part of shows a huge love to Orange, we have all used other amps and they just don’t cut it for us, the sound Orange gives us can be really clear and bright or really dark and dirty. It adds to our song writing. We see it as family, as cheesy as that sounds, we can turn up to a show and take our amps out and that will strike up conversations with other bands that use Orange, discussion groups online and forums that are out there just add to the community vibe we get.

What’s the most memorable Son Of Boar moment?

There are so many stories from when we have travelled, whether it be having a cool photo taken outside of Edinburgh castle, in our Denim battle jackets, putting our mean faces on and trying to look as cool as possible, for us to look back (When we got home) and see Adam was holding a bottle of Orange Fanta which ruined the whole picture. We have and NEVER will let him forget that. Other memories make us laugh, like Mooning our Tour Mates, Deadeyes, as we passed them on the motorway, or the pagan baptism in Fellfoot Woods at ‘In A Nutshell’ Festival.

What’s on the horizon for Son Of Boar?

Currently we are not touring, we have a few shows lined up throughout the year but we have mainly been focusing on album number 2. We locked ourselves away and spent a lot of time writing and have more or less finished recording it. Once that is done we would like to get it out and tour then. We have spoken about going over to Europe for the last few years but Covid knocked us back, we are back on it now though and will hopefully be making our way out there next year!

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by Joe Gray

Articles, Spotlight

Orange Spotlight: The Lunar Effect

Who are The Lunar Effect?

The Lunar Effect was started by brothers Jon (guitar) and Daniel (drums) Jefford. They were then joined by bassist Brett Halsey and singer Josh Neuwford. After releasing an EP in 2016 the band went into the studio and recorded their first full length album ‘Calm Before The Calm’ in 2018 which was met with critical acclaim. An enforced Covid Hiatus and then later serious health issues with two members of the band derailed their touring plans, resulting in them needing to lay low until making an appearance at Desertfest London in 2021 before heading back into the studio to record their second album in late 2022. Just before the release of this album in 2024 they decided to thicken up their already huge sound by recruiting long term friend and collaborator Mark fuller on 2nd guitar.

What inspires The Lunar Effect?

Our favourite bands are mostly made up classics like David Bowie, T.Rex, Soundgarden, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Aside from that, it’s our overall love of writing and performing which inspires us and keeps us going. Can genuinely see us doing this when we’re all grey and old. We also like the current bands Graveyard, The Heavy Eyes and Turtle Skull.

What Orange gear is important to The Lunar Effect?

Currently we are using a TH30 guitar head and AD200 Bass head. We recently also used a Little Bass Thing and a Rocker 15 Head.

Future Orange amps?

We would love to try using a Thunderverb 200 and Rockerverb 50

What does Orange mean to you?

Orange is a brand that you instantly recognise. Whether you are in the front row at a gig or right at the back of the room propped up against the bar, they’re impossible not to notice. You just know an Orange amp when you hear one, let alone see one. Apart from the sound, the fact the gear is made from quality parts and is incredibly hardwearing and roadworthy. That’s a huge plus-point.

What’s the most memorable The Lunar Effect moment?

We’ve had a lot of memorable moments over the years but we’ll never forget our very first gig. It was on a Tuesday night in a pub in Leytonstone, playing to just the bar staff and one punter. He was absolutely spangled and, inexplicably, had a blow-up guitar with him. Throughout our whole set this bloke was dancing like it was going out of fashion whilst headbanging and strumming away on his blow-up fender. It was all for him.

What’s on the horizon for The Lunar Effect?

Well, we’ve released “Pulling Daisies” and “Flowers For Teeth”, our first new releases in five years and first singles from our new album “Sounds of Green & Blue” (out everywhere, available to order via Svart Records now!). We have a huge album launch show at The Black Heart in Camden on 26th April. After that, as well as the usual London shows we’ll be hitting the road going up and down the country, including a couple of overseas shows in the pipeline which we can’t wait for.

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by Joe Gray

Articles, Spotlight

Orange Spotlight: Troy The Band

Who are Troy The Band?

We are a London-based four-piece, composed of Sean Durbin on bass, Sean Burn on guitar, Craig Newman on vocals, and Jack Revans on drums. We are best described as a mix between stoner-doom, shoegaze and post rock.

We formed in 2021, after Sean Durbin put an ad out seeking members to form the band. Our original drummer, Dan England, who recorded drums on the EP and our album, stepped down after recording the album. After that we were lucky enough to have our friend Jack, who had already been sitting in on our live shows quite a lot, join on a permanent basis.

We also had a few other guitarists that we jammed with before Sean Burn joined. Sean and Sean actually knew one another from New Zealand, and it was a chance meeting on the street in London at a time when the band was in need of a new guitarist that led to them joining. When you think about it, it was a pretty serendipitous set of circumstances that led to them joining, which in turn had a vital impact on the trajectory of our sound that just wouldn’t have happened with the other guitarists we had initially been playing with.

What inspires Troy The Band?

We’re inspired by a lot of different genres and bands; both consciously and unconsciously. Obviously we fit broadly within the stoner-doom genre so there are bands that will influence us from that end of the spectrum, but all of us tend to enjoy a broad array of musical styles which will inevitably make an impact on the way we approach a specific piece of music. To name a few bands whose names often come up for us: High on Fire, Khruangbin, Operator Generator, Acid King, All Them Witches, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Rush, Melvins, Big Business, Jesus and the Mary Chain, Joy Division, Black Midi, Smashing Pumpkins, Bossk, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Horrors, Deerhunter, Women, My Bloody Valentine, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra among others.

We aim to make music that first and foremost we enjoy and find interesting, and then try and bring others along for the ride.

What Orange gear is important to Troy The Band?

Sean Durbin uses an Orange Terror Bass and also splits his signal into a guitar amp, which is currently an Orange Tiny Terror valve amp. Both work well for our sound, and they are also pretty portable and indestructible. Plus they look cool sitting on top of the stacks next to each other.

This dual setup has evolved over time. Initially, Sean started splitting the signal through a bass and guitar amp because when the band first started we didn’t have a regular guitar player and splitting the signal helped fill out the sound in the rehearsal room more.

When Sean Burn joined, rather than just mirroring the bass, they brought more atmospheric and complementary style of playing to the existing riffs, so we made a conscious choice to keep the bi-amped bass setup, where the bass is doing the work of a bassist and rhythm guitarist that holds down the main riffs of the songs, while Sean B adds harmonic layering over the the top of those riffs.

This might be somewhat surprising, especially within a genre that extols the virtue of monstrous amps, but Sean Burn uses an Orange Terror Stamp which is mounted at the end of the signal chain on a very elaborate pedalboard setup.

They purchased Terror Stamp initially due its affordability, but it has been an incredibly reliable and great sounding piece of equipment. When we went to record our album, even with a wall of mega-powerful tube amps at our disposal, Sean opted to record with the Terror Stamp since it sounded great and all their pedals were already calibrated to it.

It does have its limitations in some live situations, trying to compete with the other Sean’s Terror Bass and Tiny Terror, but these are easily overcome. We either just mic it up, or use it like a preamp and slave the power section of whatever house backline head is available to achieve the necessary volume. But the tone all comes from the terror stamp and accompanying pedals.

Future Orange amps?

One of the problems with Orange Amps is that they are so bombproof and consistent that there isn’t much need for constant GASing. However, the Orange fur coat fuzz with octave up is likely to replace the current octave-up/distortion configuration on the guitar side of Sean Durbin’s bass signal, and replacing the Tiny Terror with a Pedal Baby might be on the horizon too.

For Sean Burn, The Orange Pedal Baby or something similar will also likely make its way into their set up to provide the volume we need for our shows.

As much as we’d love to have a wall of big beautiful all-tube heads behind us, it is not always practical for a band that often travels via public transport, so it’s nice to be able to capture the Orange tone that we love in more accommodating packages.

What does Orange mean to you?

For us, Orange Amps are kind of synonymous with the heavy music we play. They mean great tone and reliability.

Orange is also a big supporter of the underground music scene in London, providing the backline for a lot of venues and festivals that we’ve been a part of which is great. And we always see Ade and Joe at shows, not as representatives of Orange per se but as fans of the music, which is always nice to see.

What’s the most memorable Troy The Band moment?

We’ve had a few memorable moments, but perhaps the most memorable was an all-day show we put on to launch a beer we brewed with Old Street Brewery in East London called Troy The Beer. It was an outdoor mini-festival with six bands playing throughout the day, that we held in August. The weather had been great leading up to it, but it’s London so you never really know.

The morning of the event, the sky was blue and the weather report looked good. There was meant to be some light drizzle in the afternoon, but nothing major so we made the call to keep the event outside and set up some tents for the bands to play under just in case there was a bit of rain.

It turned out the weather report wasn’t entirely accurate and we were hit with one of the most intense thunderstorms we had ever experienced. What was particularly surreal was that the thunder storm arrived while one of the bands, Purple Kong, were playing their song “Blood Lightning” which has the repeated refrain “Blood, Lighting, Earthquake and Thunder….” So it was pretty fitting. All that was really missing in that moment were earthquakes and blood, and thankfully it stayed that way. Fortunately the rain ended up dissipating completely for the rest of the bands but for a minute there we were worried we were about to be responsible for organising Fyre Fest Part 2.

What’s on the horizon for Troy The Band?

A lot!

Bonebag Records are putting out our debut full-length album Cataclysm on February 2nd. We are kicking off a tour supporting it on the 9th of February.

We’re also working hard on getting our second album ready and will head back into the studio this summer to record that, among a few one-off dates that we have in the calendar this year.

So there is lot’s to look forward to.

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by Joe Gray

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Orange Spotlight: Acid Throne

Who are Acid Throne ?

Band members:

We are Chris Farrar and Matt Stembrowicz

How did you meet?

We were originally in a Hardcore band together. That band ran its course and from it Acid Throne was born.

Why are you called Acid Throne?

We basically wanted a band name that encapsulates the type of music we play but also something that wasn’t already taken by loads of others. So after approximately 10,000 whatsapp messages, we landed on Acid Throne.

How/when did the band start?

We officially started late August of 2021 and started writing heavy riffs straight away!

Where are you based?

We’re from Norwich, UK

How would you describe the music you produce?

Heavy and miserable with groove!

What inspires Acid Throne?

What’s your favourite band?

There are so many from both of us. I suppose our top bands would be Monolord, Dark Throne, Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats and Thou.

Is there a reason music is important to you?

Music is a cathartic outlet for all of us. Something that keeps us sane, whether that’s spinning a record at home, getting together in our practice space or playing shows. Music has helped each of us in so many ways.

Do you take inspiration from things other than music?

Musically and lyrically, our Debut album ‘KINGDOM’S DEATH’ is inspired by the overwhelming feelings of anger and despair that result from living in the 21st century.

Is there something you’re trying to achieve or convey in your music?

We never set out to convey any sort of rhetoric or achieve anything but make heavy music that we relate to. It’s just definitely an added bonus if other people are into it!

What Orange gear is important to Acid Throne?

What Orange gear do you have?

I (Matt) use a Rockerverb 50w MKII, AD200 and a Fur Coat distortion pedal.

Why do you like it?

Because it’s generally awesome, there’s no other tone like it!

How do you use it?

I run the Rockerverb on the clean channel as the clean headroom of the amp is perfect for using pedals with, mainly the Orange Fur Coat. I went for the MKII as it has the mid controls on it. I Bi-Amp this rig with an AD200 to retain that monstrous low end.

Future Orange amps?

Is there Orange gear that you know you want in the future?

Are we allowed to say full backline?? four 4×12’s and an 8×10 please!

Is there existing Orange gear that you want to try?

Definitely an 8×10 for the low end of things!

Are you saving up for a specific Orange product

Next on the list is definitely a PPC-412

What does Orange mean to you?

When did you first see or hear Orange amps?

First time actually realising a band was using an Orange amp might have been TSOL back in the late 90s/early 00’s! But looking back now on the bands we all heard growing up, SO many used Orange (we’re big fans of ‘The Mac’)!

When you see Orange on a stage how do you feel?

I love seeing other bands using similar gear! It makes you curious as to how the get THEIR sound from the gear we all share.

Do you associate the brand with anything?

Loud, heavy music. And heritage!

Is there a reason that made you want to play Orange in particular?

Sleep & Boris. Is that a good enough reason?

Are there other bands you saw playing Orange that inspired you to try Orange gear?

Along with the above, there are so many bands that use Orange and bands that inspire us. Be that Monolord or our friends in Old Horn Tooth & Red Eyed Cult!

Is there something positive you associate Orange with?

Actual talent. The Orange roster is stacked with killer killer artists.

What do you like most about Orange as a brand?

It’s aesthetically pleasing, it sounds great and it should never change.

What’s the most memorable Acid Throne moment?

So far, our band highlight is probably that time (August 2022) we played the Jaeger Stage at Bloodstock Festival. Which was our ninth show, ever! We owe Simon Hall and the Bloodstock crew a lot for giving us that opportunity and platform.

What’s on the horizon for Acid Throne?

Are you touring now?

We have just had a 9 day run with the Cancer Bats alter ego BAT SABBATH, a handful of shows coming up and we’re planning a small run in May too!

When’s your next gig?

That’d be February 3rd at Helgi’s Bar in Hackney, then we have March 18th in Norwich with Conan then DESERTFEST!

Where do you want to be in the future?

We just wanna play shows, record album 2 and have fun… all with the help of Orange amps!

Are there projects the band is working on now or want to do in the future?

At the moment, we’re just focusing on spreading the word of Acid Throne, and trying to play as many shows as we can and get ‘KINGDOM’S DEATH’ into as many ears as possible! Oh and writing album number 2!