Orange Sky
Dat Iz Voodoo

January 2009
Released: 2008, Star City Recording Company
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Robert Williams

You may already be familiar with the Trinidad based hard rockers Orange Sky from their previous tour outings supporting Yngwie Malmsteen in the United States and Canada. The band's music is often referred to as the theoretical offspring conceived by Black Sabbath and The Wailers. Orange Sky has been known to blend styles such as punk, reggae, metal and hard rock into their repertoire.



Orange Sky's second and latest release DAT IZ VOODOO showcases the band's aforementioned ability to bounce from style to style. Kicking off the album is "Yesterdays and Tomorrows" which is probably the closest thing resembling straight ahead melodic metal on the album. Twin lead guitars work in tandem amongst some pretty unique sounding Caribbean cool vocals. It would not be too much of an exaggeration to say that a track like "Psycho World" would have fit nicely alongside the works of Slash or Joe Perry with its raunchy, devil-may-care styled opening riff. "Run" begins with tribal-like drum work and then kicks into a pretty jumpy verse section that I would compare to Living Colour covering Coal Chamber.



The production on DAT IZ VOODOO is modern sounding yet does not over squash levels. There are still plenty of dynamics at play and fortunately does not rely on the "everything louder is better" formula that is so prevalent in today's music industry. The drums on this album were recorded damn near close to perfection, just listen to the kick drum's righteous thumping and you will understand what I'm talking about.



One of my personal highlights on DAT IZ VOODOO comes in the form of a Scorpions cover "Is There Anybody There" off the classic LOVEDRIVE album. Orange Sky's cover features a reggae-rock hybrid-flair differentiating itself from the original which is often necessary when choosing a cover tune by a band with such an illustrious a career as the Scorpions.



If diverse music is your bag, then this album will keep you busy for some time. Orange Sky will once again be hitting the road in support of DAT IZ VOODOO and probably hitting a club nearby by the time you read this.