Orbit Culture‘s fifth album is ready!
Entitled Death Above Life, it is the first album that Niklas Karlsson (guitar/vocals), Fredrik Lennartsson (bass), Richard Hansson (guitar), and Christopher Wallerstedt (drums) have released in collaboration with Century Media Records.
Inferna hits hard from the very first seconds with ultra-jerky Melodic Death Metal and a powerful mix that perfectly highlights the violence of the riffs, but also the much more majestic choruses boosted by keyboards. Niklas‘ vocals shift from growls to intense clean singing with impressive mastery, but it’s during the band’s performance that we realize his true power, as Bloodhound first brings its rhythm to the forefront, ensuring waves of rage. The phrasing is still much more choppy and virulent, sticking to the dissonant passages, but the track suddenly gives way to Inside The Waves, where we have some fairly motivating elements, coupled with elaborate harmonics. The flow of the track remains fairly natural, taking advantage of a few accelerations, such as during the lively mosh part that eventually leads into The Tales Of War and its theatrical introduction, which allows us to catch our breath for a moment before absorbing the impact when the guitars decide to express themselves again. The choruses are a little different, combining the vocalist’s two voices and paving the way for a fairly clean solo, while Hydra crushes us with a block of modernity which is both compact and catchy, and which is sure to provoke some intense headbanging. The sound is truly oppressive on this composition thanks to the industrial elements, particularly on the final, which gives way to Nerve and its return to more old-school melodic death metal influences, alternating the pace to maintain a furious dynamic. I have a feeling that this track will go down well live, as will the eponymous Death Above Life, which also features noise elements, but also sharp leads that haunt the constant groovy rhythm. The slightly calmer final leads us to The Storm, which follows with an introduction that slowly builds tension, making the release all the more satisfying, as are the waves it creates, given that the band often reuses this technique throughout the song. The track is however quite short, unlike the explosive Neural Collapse, which offers unifying passages and choruses, but also a rather reassuring moment of hesitation before becoming imposing again, then letting The Path I Walk offer us a touch of gentleness with its melancholic introduction led by the vocalist, who will transform it into an intoxicating progression until its climax, followed by silence.
With its growing reputation, Orbit Culture was eagerly awaited, and the least we can say is that Death Above Life is anything but disappointing! The band proves once again that it has firepower, while daring to take a few more risks.
90/100
A few questions to Niklas Karlsson, founder guitarist/vocalist for the Swedish Melodic Groove Metal band Orbit Culture.
Hello and first of all, thank you very much for your time! How would you introduce the band Orbit Culture without using any Metal subgenre, like “Melodic Death Metal” or “Groove Metal”?
Niklas Karlsson (guitar/vocals): Thanks so much for having me. Honestly, I’ve always just seen us as a metal band, plain and simple. That’s been the goal from the start, because there are way too many elements from different styles in our music to box it into one specific category. We grew up in a very rural part of Sweden — more silos than apartment buildings — so I guess you could even call our sound “Farmers’ Metal”.
Do you remember how you came with the name Orbit Culture, and how do you link it to the music you play?
Niklas: It’s honestly the most generic story ever. For the first six months, we just couldn’t come up with a name no matter how hard we tried, so we ended up using an online band-name generator. That’s how Orbit Culture was born. These days though, it carries much more meaning — it’s tied to all the albums and EPs we’ve created, so now the name feels like it grew into us rather than the other way around.
Orbit Culture will release its new album Death Above Life in a few weeks, how do you feel about it? Do you already have any feedback?
Niklas: We feel great. It’s been a long road leading up to this release and the upcoming tour, and we’re super excited to finally get it out. We’ve already started writing material for whatever comes next, but right now the only priority is taking Death Above Life across the globe and playing it anywhere and everywhere we can.
How would you sum Death Above Life’s identity up in only three words?
Niklas: Rage. Revenge. Acceptance.
The band’s line up has been stable for years now, how does the creation process happen within the band? Did you notice some changes between now and the previous releases?
Niklas: The process is still pretty much the same as always. I’ve got this one giant Cubase project where I’ve been collecting every Orbit Culture idea for years — it’s like a musical diary at this point, and writing has become a very therapeutic outlet for me. Having everything in the same project makes it easy to see what fits together. The big difference this time was that Christopher wrote and recorded all his drum parts himself, and Fredrik did the same with his bass parts. That gave the record a different dynamic, which was a really cool change.
Orbit Culture’s sound is made of Swedish Melodic Death basis with a lot of groovy elements, which bands would you quote as your main influences? How do you manage to create your own sound with time?
Niklas: Orbit Culture is really just a cauldron of different influences. The backbone comes from bands like Metallica and Gojira, especially in how they structure songs, but there’s also some Static-X energy in there. Over time, all of those inspirations have blended into something that feels like our own.
Where do you find your inspiration to create music and lyrics? Is there a concept behind Death Above Life?
Niklas: It wasn’t intended as a full concept album, but we always try to keep a red thread throughout. The lyrics revolve around themes we’ve always explored — mental struggles, addiction, inner conflict — but each record approaches them differently. Nija leaned more on metaphors, Descent was told from an insanity-driven point of view, and Death Above Life combines those approaches with an added layer of rage.
Do you have a favorite song on Death Above Life? Or maybe the hardest one to achieve for the album.
Niklas: My favorite is the last track, The Path I Walk. It actually started out more like a movie soundtrack, but once the lyrics came together, we knew it was still an Orbit Culture song — even without distorted guitars, bass, or drums. It just felt right, and I’m proud we included it on the album.
Do you think you improved yourself as a musician/songwriter with this new record?
Niklas: Definitely. On our earlier albums, we leaned into heavy editing to create a more mechanical feel — you didn’t always have to nail the riff perfectly because you could cut and paste single notes. For Death Above Life, we wanted to keep the human element intact: the imperfections, the rawness, but still tight and precise. That meant we had to properly learn every part, which made us much sharper as musicians. The bonus is that when we rehearse now, the songs are already in our hands and muscle memory.
Death Above Life is the first album you release under the Century Media Records flag, how did this collaboration begin, and how is it to work with them?
Niklas: It’s been great. When our last deal ended, we honestly thought we’d continue independently. We were pretty tired of people making decisions about our music, and that created a lot of frustration. A few labels reached out, but Century Media really showed dedication — they came to multiple shows and kept showing genuine interest. At first, we were very guarded and didn’t even want to talk business, but once we got to know them as people, it clicked. They were determined to let us keep complete creative freedom, and that was the deciding factor.
I saw you opening for In Flames in Paris’ Bataclan back in 2022, do you still have memories from this show – and the whole tour? How do you live a Orbit Culture show, and do you have some preshow or post-show ritual?
Niklas: Absolutely — that was a great show, though unfortunately the door times were messed up by LiveNation, so a lot of people arrived late. But those who made it were fantastic and gave us an amazing response. As for rituals: before shows, we blast energizing music — it could be brutal Deathcore or sugary EDM, doesn’t matter as long as it pumps us up. After the show, we usually crash on the green room couches and talk through the set — what worked, what didn’t, and how to improve for the next night.
In a few weeks, Orbit Culture will come back on the road with Gaerea and Atlas, how do you get ready for the tour? How do you feel coming back to the Bataclan as headliners?
Niklas: It’s going to be incredible. Paris has really grown on me over the years, and coming back as headliners feels surreal. Having Gaerea and Atlas on board makes the package even stronger — it’s going to be one hell of a night for the fans.
Are there any artists you would like to collaborate with? Whether it is for just a song, or an album, a cover art…
Niklas: If we could have Hans Zimmer drop a few chords and melodies on an Orbit Culture track, that would be absolutely insane.
What will come next for Orbit Culture? Do you already have plans for next year(s)?
Niklas: We’re about to head out on a headline run in the EU and UK, but just before that we’ll finally play our first-ever show in Japan — we’re really excited about that. After that, December will be a bit calmer so we can recharge before heading to the US (can’t say much more yet). And next summer is already packed with festivals — Wacken, Bloodstock, Summer Breeze, and more. It’s going to be a big year.
Have you ever heard of the French Metal scene? Are there any bands you know and like?
Niklas: Gojira. They’re one of my all-time favorite bands, and they were actually my introduction to French metal. Beyond that, I admit I’m not too familiar with the rest of the scene.
If I ask you to create a dream poster with Orbit Culture as headliner and three other bands to celebrate Death Above Life’s release, which bands would you like to play with? Even unrealistic answers are accepted.
Niklas: Torghumor (openers), Atlas (support), Humanity’s Last Breath (support), Cypecore (support), Gaerea (support), Static-X (co-headliner).
Last and funny question: which dish would you compare Orbit Culture’s music with?
Niklas: Tacos. A bit of everything thrown together — messy but delicious.
That was the last question for me, so thank you very much for your time and your music, last words are yours!
Niklas: Thank you for taking the time and for supporting our music. We’re beyond excited to finally bring Death Above Life to the world and to meet everyone on the road. Hope to see you all out there soon!