the most frenetic GUITAR SHREDDING I've ever heard...

D

Drew Johnston

New Metal Member
Mar 9, 2002
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Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA
I've been into this band for a while, but it appears ORTHRELM is finally on mp3.com for consumption. These two guys are ex-members of Crom Tech, an insanely ridiculous epileptic avant-metal band. ORTHRELM (the same Crom Tech duo of Mick Barr on guitar and Joshua Blair on drums) pushes the envelope even farther with drowning robot noises, slippery slidies and brainbusting riffs. Some people may just pass this off as random rifflessness, but if you listen closey, you will notice how the drums follow EXACTLY with the guitar, throwing in blast beats and even jazz-like syncopations amongst Mick Barr's unfathomable guitar technique. Death by shred. ORTHRELM rapes music. Instru-MENTAL. :eek:

ORTHRELM mp3s from MP3.com
 
Yeah, I'd love to hear a real bass noodler in that band to fill out the sound, but I doubt there is anyone on that planet who'd want to play it or simply be able to pull it off. I can't think of a bass player off the top of my head that could keep up with Mick Barr's guitar pyrotechnics. Crom Tech was a pre-Orthrelm band. Their songs were longer and had yelping vocals provided by Mick. Essentially Crom Tech is a slighty less retarded version of Orthrelm, the Parkinson's disease guitar delivery being the showcase. I wouldn't say Crom Tech were at all more "structured" or "song orientated" than Orthrelm are, but the songs were more distinguishable. Crom Tech only has one release available on CD, and that's their s/t EP on Gravity Records.
 
Steve Digiorgio could pull it off; that dude can play some really damn fast bass. Just listen to any Sadus CD. Steve Harris probably could, too (listen to "Run to the Hills", dunno if he's still as good, though, he's getting old now).

Crom Tech is slightly less retarded? How do you mean? I agree with Ballad Assassin; I don't think I could listen to Orthrelm for any length of time. It just has too much treble, with not enough low-end to balance out the sound. It would become straining on my ears after a while.
 
Yes, Orthrelm does have two releases available;

Iorxhscimtor CD on Tolotta Records (12 tracks in 12 or so minutes)
Asristir Vieldriox CD on Troubleman Records (99 tracks in 16 or so minutes I believe)

Speaking of too much treble, Mick Barr doesn't even run his guitar through an amplifier. His signal goes through a Boss METAL ZONE distortion pedal and then directly into the mixing board! Trebley, yes, but extremely unique and clear. You can hear every distinct note he plays on the guitar, and you'll notice the pickings are very articulate. For me, Orthrelm is something that is just so unorthodox and almost scientific in its construction. It's violating to listen to. Yeah, it's not something I would listen to every day and 'rock out'. They're a band that I just shake my head at and laugh at the proficiency.

Oh, and there is no website or known contact information for Orthrelm. As you'll notice by the album titles, these two guys are extremely cryptic with everything they do. The CD releases just have strange drawings of bacteria and nonsensical language in the liner notes, very much in the tradition of avant-prog bands like MAGMA and RUINS.
 
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