ORANGO – Mohican (2022)
If you didn’t know they were hiding in the mountains of Norway, you’d think ORANGO would be at home in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee or on the shores of Southern California. Between the band’s southern-tinged, soulful hard rockin’ riffs and sun-drenched three-part vocal harmonies, they offer a wonderful slice of classic rock on their new album ”Mohican”.
Indeed, even the album’s title makes you think of an American band sonically placed in the mid-70s, creating a rare mixture of bluesy hard rock vibes akin a rawer Led Zeppelin with polyphonic choruses ala Eagles. Add a touch of Pink Floyd atmospheres plus a campfire smell, and you have a different, refreshing retro sound on this album.
This is the eighth LP from this experienced band, with two decades together creating real rock music, no effects or trickery.
It’s very cool to hear a song like opener ‘The Creek’ beginning slowly with clean melodic lead vocals over a Floyd-like acoustic dreamy background, then after one and a half minute it explodes into a hard rocking riffs, with all three members serving fantastic vocal harmonies.
‘Bring You Back Home’ rocks with vintage sounding guitar, and we love the southern waves of the properly titled ‘Fryin’, with a lively Hammond in the back. Then these guys surprise with a mellow tune like ‘Cold Wind’, where Eagles or even Crosby, Stills & Nash come to mind. Superb song.
And the best part of it is the rest of the material on ”Mohican” is that good or even better. ORANGO deserves to be be widely known, this is quality classic rock made so naturally, so hard to find nowadays.
A wonderful album.
Highly Recommended
01 – The Creek
02 – Bring You Back Home
03 – Fryin’
04 – Wild River Song
05 – Cold Wind
06 – Running Out Of Reason
07 – Hawkeye In Love
08 – War Camp
09 – Dust And Dirt
10 – Ain’t No Road
Helge Bredeli Kanck: guitar, vocals
Trond Slåke – drums, vocals
Hallvard Gaardløs – bass, vocals
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