How nice it is to follow an album from its birth. To share reflections, to hear the first ideas, to have endless conversations that go off the rails to the point where you can’t remember where they started. Such an album is the second output of this group.
Orra have been around since 2019 and with careful steps they have carved a discreet path without exaggerations and meaningless fanfares. In 2022 they released “Unbounded” and this year they return, via Sleaszy Rider Records, with their second work “Glimmer Of Hope”. The trio behind the album are Leonidas Hatzimichalis (vocals), Petros Pierrakeas (guitars and keyboards) and Panagiotis Kapogiannis (bass) while Emidio Alex Ramos is the drummer for the session (except on “Infinity” where the drum work is done by Naman Sachdev).
If I had to put a label, a necessary evil for many, on Orra’s sound I would say that they sound like Fates Warning in their most extreme experimental period, namely the “Disconnected / A Pleasant Shade Of Gray” era. The material is purely progressive but the base has fallen on melody. Here I have to emphasize that the sound is quite hard but the whole material is possessed by a sweet melancholy.
In the 7, and one cover, compositions of the album the band presents a really nice palette with a lot of variety. It’s clear that they can play really technical like on “Infinity” while at the same time they can be highly commercial like on “Brace The Fall” (what a chorus my god). However, there are more than a few moments when minimalism makes its presence felt. Sure, they can play technical but prefer to let the melody do its job. This comes through in the excellent cover and the overall artwork. Lets mention the cover song too! We come across Judas Priest’s “Here Comes The Tears” which somehow magically blends seamlessly with the whole album.
I don’t want to talk much about Leonidas’ voice. I’ve been his harshest critic for… decades but my joy when he decides to give us new material is very great. So here too he doesn’t disappoint. He coats the compositions without exaggeration with his characteristic lyricism.
“Glimmer Of Hope” lives up to its name and is one of the rare cases where an album title describes its content in an excellent way. One of those little gems that should not be missing from any serious progressive collection.
