Metal Underground.com

Orange Goblin may have been born in 1990s Britain, but sound-wise, the band crawled out of the psychedelic hellfire of the 1970s. Fans of metal as it sounded in its first decade are going to find plenty to love on this five-CD set, which covers the band's first five albums, adding some demos and live tracks to sweeten the pot.

The band earns its reputation as a stoner/doom powerhouse on the first two discs, "Frequences From Planet Ten" and "Time Travelling Blues." Stuff like the wah-wah-laced "Saruman's Wish" and the comparatively mellow "Nuclear Guru" have a great Black Sabbath feel to them, though singer/guitarist Ben Ward's vocals evoke James Hetfield more than Ozzy Osbourne. The band even takes a successful crack at two Sabbath tracks — "Hand Of Doom" in the extras for "Time Travelling Blues" and "Into The Void" in the additional tracks on "The Big Black."

Unlike a lot of doom bands, Orange Goblin isn't afraid to speed things up, even in their more psychedelic phase. Stuff like "Lunarville 7, Airlock 3" moves along at a decent clip, with Chris Turner drumming in a style that's reminiscent of a speedy Bill Ward.

Things take a bit of a downward turn on the third disc, "The Big Black," which retains the doomy sound, but adds in fuzz bass and quite thoroughly blown out guitars, resulting in a staticky sound that, on tracks like "Scorpionica" and "Alcofuel" will have you making sure you haven't blown a speaker. Still, tracks like "King Of The Hornets" and "298 Kg" have enough of a sense of groove that you'll want to keep listening.

On "Coup De Grace" and "Thieving From The House Of God," the sound quality comes back (though still in a great, lo-fi '70s kind of way), and the band switches from Black Sabbath to Motorhead mode. Now Ward's growl is full-on Lemmy and the speed on tracks like "Your World Will Hate This" and "We Bite" is cranked up to 100 mph. The band even covers the "Overkill"-era Motorhead track "No Class." The punk influence is felt most keenly on "Thieving From The House Of God," with tracks like "You're Not The One (Who Can Save Rock 'N' Roll" and the Damned cover "New Rose." If you're like me, you'll probably miss the psychedelic wah-wah guitars, but the band does throw you a bit of a bone with groove-laden tracks like "If It Ain't Broke, Break It" and the bluesy "Just Got Paid."

With sounds that range from Sabbath to Sex Pistols, Orange Goblin's five-disc boxed set is a great contemporary take on '70s sounds. Marred only by the poor production on the third disc, the set is a must for fans of metal's founding decade.