Dutch quartet ORBI are a band without peers, consisting of three renowned classical musicians and Hollands finest blues rock Hammond player. Bram van Sambeek (bassoon), Sven Figee (Hammond Organ), Rick Stotijn (double bass) and Marijn Korff de Gidts (drums, percussion) bonded over a shared love of progressive hard rock and metal. Their instruments of choice are not in the spotlights that often, hence the title of their album, The Oscillating Revenge of the Background Instruments, on which they play well-known songs by bands like Led Zeppelin, Muse, Metallica, Alkaloid, and Pink Floyd.
While they are not the first to try to dress up rock and metal in classical attire - check the second hand crates for orchestras doing the sane and of course the Finnish cello quartet Apocalyptica - ORBI are tackling it with a whole new palette of sound. Can a bassoon sound like a guitar? Try shouting down the mouthpiece and you can fool the listeners ears quite convincingly. A double bass can give Jimmy Page something to think about too. Case in point: Since I've been Loving You is turned into a note perfect blues exercise that honours the tight but losse approach of Led Zeppelin. Dream Theater have a tendency to be a bit bombastic and self-indulgent when they play Octavarium, but they narrowed it down to a piece of music that could have been written by Igor Stravinsky in a mellow mood. Metallica's Cliff Burton, bass player extraordinaire who single-handedly turned a struggling trash metal act into a risk taking powerhouse, is honoured with three tracks (Fight Fire With Fire, Orion, and (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth).
