You’ve been warned: Swedish metal expressionists Orbit Culture have just delivered their first song of 2025, and it’s a juggernaut. Teasing the band’s next era, the groove-laden battle anthem arrives under the title “The Tales of War.”
Orbit Culture’s latest song begins with a tense, yet sophisticated and symphony strings-coursing intro, but quickly steam-rolls into derelict, detuned guitar pull-offs and a stomp-forward mid-tempo pound. Guitarist Niklas Karlsson cuts a menacing figure with his growls about crawling through the darkness and “drowning in oceans of fear,” but the group give the anthemic chorus a yearning, melodic reprieve.
“On almost every show we’ve ever played, we’ve used these long, cinematic intros to set the mood,” the band explained in a statement, “but this time, we figured: Why not bake that feeling straight into the song itself?”
They added of “The Tales of War”: “It captures everything that defines Orbit Culture — the cinematic elements, the build-up, the verses, and the chorus. From the beginning, we knew this had to be the first song to introduce this new era.”
You can meet the band’s latest metal anthem up above via a storm-set music video directed by Riivata Visuals.
While Orbit Culture are ostensibly introducing their “new era” with “The Tales of War,” the full details have yet to arrive behind the band’s next full-length release, which will follow 2023’s Revolver favorited Descent.
Orbit Culture have a handful of European festival appearances and support dates for In Flames coming up in June. You’ll find their upcoming show schedule here.