Orange Goblin – The End Of An Era (1995-2025)

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · Published December 21, 2025 · Updated December 21, 2025

Orange Goblin are a hard rocking stoner metal band from London, England. Formed in 1995, the band have released ten full length studio albums and a couple of live ones. They have decided to call it a day and retire after a thirty year career as a driving force in the heavy underground music scene.

I can’t express enough the importance that Orange Goblin has had on me in my musical journey. They were one of the early bands I discovered over two decades ago, on the old stonerrock dot com website. At that time, there was such an abundance of “new” bands for me to hear and I was flooded with all kinds of great artists. Orange Goblin appealed to me right away and they had five albums out back then. Thieving From The House Of God was their latest at that time and I used to listen to a sample of one song from each album on the mp3 jukebox that was on the site. That jukebox allowed me to check out so many bands from this “new” stoner rock genre that I had only just begun to really discover. Orange Goblin were mentioned on a lot of forums and discussions on the stoner rock site. Based on those songs that I heard, I really liked their sound and style.

I was lucky to see the band play live twice on their “10 Years of Drunken Horror Tour” in the United States, back in 2006. I saw the band live again several years later when they returned to the US. Finally in 2023, Orange Goblin returned to the United States, for what would ultimately be their last stint here. I saw them twice again, at Desert Fest New York and two days later in Reading, Pennsylvania with The Atomic Bitchwax. This would be my son’s first rock show (review here) and the last time that I would ever see the band live again. Orange Goblin always put on a killer live performance and I would try and see them whenever they toured in the United States.

Orange Goblin is one of my favorite bands and I have listened to all of their ten releases many times. Each record has a special place in my heart and correlates to certain time lines throughout my life. I will briefly discuss each album in order and share my thoughts and experiences and the significance that each one has had on me. I can’t say I have an absolute favorite album from them but several of them are standouts for sure.

FREQUENCIES FROM PLANET TEN

The debut Orange Goblin album was released in 1997. This record actually took me the longest to get into. The band had a strong heavy psych component to their sound on this one and mixed it up with some crunchy heavy metal tones also. I do have a big appreciation of this record now and some of my favorite tracks are: “The Astral Project”, “Saruman’s Wish”, “Aquatic Fanatic” and the classic Pentagram sounding track, “Orange Goblin”.

TIME TRAVELING BLUES

The second release came out in 1998 and it’s a classic. The band channeled Black Sabbath on this one with the heavy riffs, grooves, and vocal melodies of the songs. I was able to convert my older brother into a fan from this album and it’s got some killer tracks. “Blue Snow”, “Shine”, “The Man Who Invented Time”, “Nuclear Guru”, and the excellent southern rock title track, “Time Traveling Blues” are all excellent songs.

THE BIG BLACK

When 2000’s The Big Black came out, the band’s sound shifted into a more desert rock style, akin to Kyuss, with a Billy Anderson (Sleep, Neurosis, Melvins, Acid King, High On Fire, etc) production. Herald as one of the best Orange Goblin albums, The Big Black is a monster! From the awesome opening track of “Scorpionica” leading into “Quincy The Pigboy”, the band delivered a crushing release! “Hot Magic, Red Planet”, “Turbo Effalunt (Elephant)”, “Alcofuel”, and the massive title track, “The Big Black” are all fantastic songs.

COUPE DE GRACE

This was the first Orange Goblin album that I bought. The awesome artwork from the Man’s Ruin creator, Frank Kozik is illustrated like a comic book. Scott Reeder (ex Kyuss and The Obsessed bassist) recorded and mixed the album and it also features the vocals of the legendary John Garcia on two tracks. It’s a raw and rocking record that captures another cool side of the band. Some of my favorites are: “The World Will Hate This”, “Monkey Panic”, “Made Of Rats”, and “Getting High On The Bad Times”. They also do a Misfits cover of “We Bite”, that fits the vibe of the album nicely. It was released in 2002 and was the last album to feature two guitarists as a five-piece unit.

THIEVING FROM THE HOUSE OF GOD

This is definitely one of my favorite albums by Orange Goblin. Released in 2004 and returning to the magic of Billy Anderson at the recording helm, this recording features “Some You Win, Some You Lose”, “Hard Luck”, “Black Egg”, “Round Up The Horses”, and an excellent version of “Just Got Paid” from ZZ Top. The band had a lot to prove on this one, scaled down to a four-piece, and delivered a heavy southern rock tinged/ hardcore metal album.

HEALING THROUGH FIRE

The 2007 follow-up to Thieving was another great one! Healing Through Fire, showed more biker metal anthems and progressions to their trademark sound. Songs like “The Ballad Of Solomon Eagle”, “The Ale-House Braves”, “Cities Of Frost”, “Hounds Ditch”, “They Come Back (Harvest Of Skulls”and the classic closer, “Beginners Guide To Suicide”, are all great.

A EULOGY FOR THE DAMNED

In 2012, Orange Goblin released an unbelievable classic with A Eulogy For The Damned. This record has a very strong and personal draw to it and became one of my favorites from the band. I have fond memories of my then four year old son singing along to the songs with me, especially “Save Me From Myself” and the title track. It is probably my favorite sounding recording from the band and it’s almost like this could have been their last offering. Songs like “Red Tide Rising “, “Acid Trials, “The Filthy & The Few”, “The Fog“, “Death Of Aquarius”, among others. The album holds so many fond memories and remains as one of my absolute favorites.

BACK FROM THE ABYSS

Two years after Eulogy, Back From The Abyss was released in 2014. It has some crushing tracks like the opener “Sabbath Hex” and the ones that follow it like: “Ubermensch”, “The Devil’s Whip”, “Demon Blues”, and the Viking metal anthems of “Heavy Lies The Crown” and “Blood Of Them”. It was another solid release from the band and their metal progression was amplified.

THE WOLF BITES BACK

Two years later, Orange Goblin released The Wolf Bites Back in 2018. This record would be the last one from long time bassist Martyn Millard, as he announced his parting after that. Some of my favorite songs from this one are: “Sons Of Salem”, “The Wolf Bites Back”, “Renegade”, and “Zeitgeist”.

SCIENCE, NOT FICTION

Last year’s return of Science, Not Fiction (review here) was a great comeback album! The band did not disappoint and the creative juices were in full percolation mode on this one. Songs like “Ascend The Negative”, “False Hope Diet”, “Cemetery Rats”, and the catchy “(Not) Rocket Science”. It was on my top 20 list of the year too.

Finally on December 17th of 2025, Orange Goblin played their very last performance in their hometown of London, England. The tour was billed as “End of Transmission 1995-2025”. Honestly, I feel bummed out that the band will no longer be touring the United States and creating new music in the future. Orange Goblin has been a huge part of my life and was the soundtrack for many great memories throughout. I truly wish for nothing but happiness and success for the band members and will forever hold the band in my heart. At least I have ten fantastic albums to listen to. ORANGE FUCKING GOBLIN BABY!