Review by JD on June 29, 2013.

I have been a fan of Orange Goblin for a long time now and enjoyed every minute of it. The whole Stoner/Doom Metal thing is one of my favourite genres in metal. These guys have been a class act for the years they have been out there, and I think this next one will just solidify the band for me - and others as well.

Sounding like a cross between Black Sabbath on a whole whack of downers and Motorhead out on an angry bender with Trouble and with pure attitude Orange Goblin commands the Stoner Metal world just by hitting the first chord in any of their songs. These amazing four Brits have been a force since ‘97 and this bold live recorded album just adds credence to the power of the goblin.

This is the CD part of the CD/DVD set, and that was all I was given but this one little round disk is more than enough to make my review scream out loud. Songs like the infectious insanity of 'Red Tide Rising' to the more powerful yet unstoppable 'The Fog' shows a veteran unit of musicians that are settled with themselves and their music - the results is a musical equivalent of a full steam and out of control train on a steep grade downwards: they cannot be stopped, even if we wanted to. I know that we do not want to do that.

I was blown away with the sound this one has and instantly it is at the top of my list as the best recorded live album since "Live After Death" showed it was possible to have a well recorded live. This one of those… and might become a classic from it. Just listen to it, dammit… you’ll see.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 10
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 9.5
Originality: 10
Overall: 10

Rating: 9.9 out of 10

Review by Adam M on October 6, 2015.

Gorod performs a thrashy style of death metal. The song structures have a degree of dissonance to them. This allows for a unique breath of fresh air to the death metal genre. Gorod has a lot of quickness in their riffs which could be reminiscent of an album like Rust in Peace by Megadeth. This alone can be seen from the track Celestial Nature which features the same rapid fire speed riffing that said album contains.

Thankfully the song-writing present on the album is fairly tight and makes everything gel into the right place. One might think this technical metal approach has an over-indulgence attached to it, but right after a couple of tracks one gets comfortable with the band’s approach. And it is one that fits nicely into the progressive death metal genre despite the thrash references. The music here is abrasive, but it seems the speed win out over this aspect. However, since the song-writing is good, things never get out of control. Instead, we’re left with a furious death metal release. Instrumentally, the guitar work rivals the best that the genre has to offer. However, I don’t think the album has enough of a distinguishing characteristic to quite make it a classic. This album has such a high quality that it’s easy to overlook the lack of an innovative stance. The riffing and song structures are so interesting that even though the band doesn’t do anything new, they always remain compelling. Production is very good, but could be improved upon. The riffs could use a little more punch to them, considering how much impact is made by how blistering they are.

Still, this adds another tantalizing death metal offering to this year’s lineup. Those looking for fast, thrashy death metal with a technical edge should look no further than A Maze of Recycled Creeds.

Rating: 8 out of 10