ORNE - THE CONJURATION BY THE FIRE - 2006

Finnish band ORNE (which is now known as THE ORNE, incidentally) started out as a solo project for Kimi Kärki (aka Peter Vicar) of REVEREND BIZARRE fame. Despite being around for over 10 years, Conjuration By The Fire is their debut album. It was recorded way back in 2004, so it took a while to get released, but it was worth the wait.

This very 70’s sounding album shows clear influences of KING CRIMSON, VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, BLACK WIDOW, URIAH HEEP and BLACK SABBATH, with a touch of JETHRO TULL-ish folk. It is far removed from the doom metal of Kärki’s regular band REVEREND BIZARRE – although the dark atmosphere is definitely something Kärki seems to like very much. The music is rich, with –apart from the regular rock instruments- a wide variety of instrumentation (flutes, saxophones, piano…). It isn’t very heavy, apart from the odd doomy riff. The vocals of REVEREND BIZARRE’s Albert Witchfinder (who is not a regular member of the band, by the way) fit the melancholic, depressing sphere perfectly, but I must admit that I have a hard time coping with this for the entire album. But that’s probably just me…

A good album with some excellent moments. Not something I would get wild about, but if you’re into that dark, gloomy atmosphere, I’m sure you’ll love this.

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