ORBIT CULTURE is a band poised. The Swedish quartet’s Century Media debut, Death
Above Life “, is not merely a statement of how far the band has come, but it is the sound
of metal in the most modern sense. ”This record represents change, a new beginning,”
says ORBIT CULTURE guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, Niklas Karlsson. “It brings up
a lot of good and bad emotions but it’s a big change for the better. It feels like a rebirth.”
Already, ORBIT CULTURE has distinguished themselves with a steady stream of jaw-
dropping albums including 2023’s Descent and its 2021 predecessor Nija. They’ve
seized stages with the likes of Slipknot, Knocked Loose and Trivium, blown away
festival crowds with their layered, melodic death metal scraping sound and won “Next
Big Thing” status in a way even the most promising outfits can’t approach. Death Above
Life lifts ORBIT CULTURE’s years of hard work with a sharpened songwriting edge and
swaggering confidence. From the album’s scorching opener, “Inferna” to its clench-
fisted title track to the elegiac closer, “The Path I Walk”, It’s clear: ORBIT CULTURE is
at the top of their game.
Despite coming from a country rich in metal history, ORBIT CULTURE’s story is one of
isolated teens in the rural town of Eksjö, Sweden, making music surrounded by dense,
Scandinavian woods and winter gloom. “It’s dark and cold all the time and the only thing
you have is snow and streetlights,” says Niklas. Inspired by a steady diet of Metallica,
Gojia and Static-X, Karlsson found an outlet that would eventually become an
obsession. “We were small-town kids from nowhere,” he says. “We were never part of a
scene or anything, so we had to do it ourselves. We’re still very much of a ‘Do It
Yourself’ kind of band. I tried to learn as much as I could during those formative years.”
Learning programs like Qbase and utilizing homespun tools, the sound of ORBIT
CULTURE began as most bands do: rough-hewn but bursting with ideas.. “I used my
sister’s SingStar microphone!” the frontman laughs.
By the release of 2018’s Redfog, ORBIT CULTURE’s sound and lineup (rounded out by
guitarist Richard Hansson, bassist Fredrik Lennartsson and drummer Christopher
Wallerstedt) solidified. “That’s when it went from a laptop project to an actual band,”
Niklas notes. “But, up until 2021, we hadn’t done more than 10 or 15 shows!” A first
European tour with Rivers of Nihil and Black Crown Initiate set the stage for ORBIT
CULTURE to emerge a powerful live proposition that was furthered by tours with
Swedish heroes In Flames and Avatar. “As Bjorn from In Flames told me, ‘You can
rehearse songs in the rehearsal space, but the real rehearsal is playing live,’” says
Niklas.
ORBIT CULTURE’S DIY ethos also extends to ORBIT CULTURE’s visuals. The band is
intimately ensconced in every aspect of their output – down to shooting and directing
most of their striking video clips. “We thought some of the video people couldn’t match
the vision we have,” Karlsson reasons. “So, we bought a camera ourselves and rather
than renting stages or props, we shot a lot in the woods, with the woods being
mysterious where we live, it was the perfect backdrop for our band.” Down to the band’s
utterly disturbing dark-on-dark artwork, ORBIT CULTURE’s vision is nothing short of
uncompromising. Down to Death Above Life’s H.R. Giger-esque cover painting by
Slovakian artist Miroslav Pecho, Karlsson & Co’s Karlsson & Co’s eldritch imagery is
coming into sharper focus.
Karlsson also credits his love for soundtracks and cinematic soundscapes for fleshing
out ORBIT CULTURE’s sound and vision. Composers including Hans Zimmer (Dune,
Interstellar) and Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings) have become a huge influence on
the band. “So much more than any metal being written today,” Niklas states. “Every one
of us would rather listen to the Inception soundtrack. It’s timeless. When I get stuck
writing, those tools and inspiration are there, whether it’s cellos or pianos which adds
texture. We write very easy riffs and structures, so turning to someone like Hans
Zimmer leads us to taking the ending of a songs like ‘Inferna’ and making the final
chorus bigger and more cinematic. Out dream is to do an ORBIT CULTURE orchestral
record, our version of [Metalllica’s] S&M!”
Writing sessions commenced for Death Above Life once the band returned home from
their exhaustive world tour in 2023. Karlsson decamped to his home studio to begin the
writing process. He freely admits that they got more than their fair share of inspiration
on the road. Their arena run with Slipknot in early 2024 opened the band’s eyes to
bigger possibilities. “If we never did the Slipknot shows, for instance,” says Niklas. “I
would never have written a song like ‘Bloodhound’ on the new album. Just watching
them every night, there was an intensity and furious rage that we got to see closely,
firsthand, pushed us”. However, a track like “Inside the Waves” shows that ORBIT
CULTURE isn’t afraid to flex their songwriting into new arenas. “For me, that was going
into a Linkin Park phase,” Karlsson freely admits. “I wanted to write something that was
easy and singalong friendly. Of course, it’s not written for the masses, because if I tried
to do that, I would fail miserably!”
Produced by the band and mixed by Buster Odeholm (Humanity’s Last Breath, Thrown),
Death Above Life is a statement for metal: its present and future. It’s also a crucial next
step for ORBIT CULTURE as they continue to define themselves and metal, as a whole.
“We play metal,” says Karlsson. “We have influences of Djent, influences of metalcore,
melodic death metal. We stay true to ourselves, and I think people are hungry for that.”