FROSTBITE ORCKINGS – The Orcish Eclipse

At the risk of putting myself on the radar of the world’s future overlord, AI, I’m going to review an album that was created by this new tech that’s sweeping the world.

AI and Metal Music Collide

The new band is called Frostbite Orckings, and the album is The Orcish Eclipse. The first thing that comes to mind when this album started playing is, “Holy crap, this is amazing! Is this really all coming from a computer driven program?” The short answer is yes. It’s all from an AI engine that was told/asked (?) to make a heavy metal album. Based on that premise, Frostbite Orckings was born, and The Orcish Eclipse turned out to be one helluva great album. From the moment “When I Fall” starts playing, the music grabs you and doesn’t let go. It’s fast-paced and aggressive. The vocals, if that’s what they would still be called, are deep and growling. It’s not  clear if this was programmed in or maybe the Vikings are making a comeback, but The Orcish Eclipse is very much a Viking Metal record.

As far as the music itself, it is very anthemic and pulsing like you would imagine hearing on a boat full of savages about to crash your shores and make you rethink your defensive strategies. A roving band of Vikings, or orcs, that are blood thirsty and have nothing in mind but to destroy and pillage, leaving nothing but mayhem in their wake. Even the song titles sound like something off an Amon Amarth album.

For all that this album got right, there is one thing that it suffers from. After about four or five songs it starts to get a little repetitive. Nothing horrible, but not everything can be a Viking campfire song. Other than that, the album is fantastic.

Overall

Overall, this new record is amazing on many different levels. It is unbelievable that a computer generated a full-length record, complete with vocals and song titles, when given a few simple parameters. The sound quality is great. The instruments are very well defined, and the music allows the vocals to stand out while maintaining a consistent theme throughout the album. If successful then more projects are likely to come out that are 100% AI, just like this. Who knows? Maybe we can finally get a super group composed of somebody like Eddie Van Halen and Dimebag while Peter Steele is on vocals belting out some new Gothic lyrics that were written but never put on tracks. If this review has pleased the overlords, that’s my one and only request.

If you like the album or simply want to learn more about how it was made, check out Metalverse and go down the rabbit hole. You can be sure that there will be more albums like this coming in the near future.

Tracklisting

1. When I Fall
2. Orcs Don’t Cry
3. Hammers High
4. Beauty of the Night
5. Into the Void
6. We Navigate
7. Feel the Night
8. Coming Home
9. Nightfall
10. Endless Love