Sweden’s Orbit Culture are releasing "Hydra," the third single taken from their upcoming album, Death Above Life, which arrives October 3.
The band comments, "With 'Hydra,' we dove even deeper into the heavy tunings we explored on our previous single, 'Death Above Life.' Lyrically, it’s a raw and unfiltered track about cutting ties — direct, honest, and uncompromising. The song was written during a period of intense stress and frustration and channeling that emotion onto paper felt like a necessary release."
They continue, "Visually, we drew inspiration from the vast, cinematic atmosphere of the Dune films. That same sense of scale is echoed in the production — distorted, low-tuned cellos, and thunderous drums that feel like something massive is coming. This is easily one of our most ambitious videos to date. We scouted the California desert to find the perfect location — no green screens, no tricks. What you see is real: Just four Swedish guys sweating it out in the scorching desert heat."
Witness Orbit Culture's journey into a relentless, blazing inferno that was produced by Industrialism Films, Vicente Cordero with additional editing by the band's long-time partner, Riivata Visuals, here.
Catch Orbit Culture on their "Death Above Life" UK/EU tour this fall with Gaerea and Atlas in support. The band is also playing Japan for the first time in October. More info on Orbit Culture's upcoming shows here.
The album represents change, a new beginning," says 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."
Hailing from the small town of Eksjö, Sweden (located between the revered metal cities of Gothenburg and Stockholm), the quartet (guitarist and vocalist Niklas Karlsson, guitarist Richard Hansson, bassist Fredrik Lennartsson and drummer Christopher Wallerstedt) have grown into a global force, melding together riffs that are equal parts thrash, death metal and industrial with arresting hooks and a layered atmosphere that invites comparison to Gojira, Metallica and Static-X while carving out something that is uniquely their own.
ORBIT CULTURE’s 2023 album, Descent and its subsequent EP release, The Forgotten topped many year-end lists in 2023 including Metal Hammer who described the album as: "a formidable entwining of modern metal’s most effective and exciting strands into an impressive milestone." Exhaustive worldwide touring and a steady stream of crowd-pummeling festival slots across the globe have set the stage for something much larger.
Orbit Culture is a band poised. They are the sound of metal in the most modern sense.