Review: Orion – The Lightbringers

Style: Progressive Rock, Alternative Rock (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Post-Presto Rush, Geddy Lee’s solo work, Pearl Jam, Triumph, Winterhawk
Country: United Kingdom
Release date: 16 August 2024

Rush is a band of many eras: making a name for themselves with their 70s progressive hard rock, the trio took a left turn into Police-inspired reggae rock beginning with 1980’s Permanent Waves and transitioning fully into synthwave by the time of 1982’s Signals. The 90s saw Rush diverting in sound once again to alternative rock after the interstitial Presto and Roll the Bones, deviating little from this formula up until swansong Clockwork Angels. While Rush’s 90s output is likely their most overlooked, its influence on progressive rock can still be found today. For example, The Lightbringers, the second release of multi-instrumentalist Ben Jones’s project Orion, takes many cues from Rush’s closing era, even getting their long-time artist Hugh Syme to design the album art. Now, are all of these elements together a miracle too good to be true, or does The Lightbringers bring little to the listener but vapor trails?

Orion brings many elements from this era onto The Lightbringers: the base sound is a punchy, percussion-focused take on alternative rock in the vein of tracks like “Dog Years” from Test For Echo, the title track from Vapor Trails, or “Animate” from Counterparts, rumbling along at a mid pace with heavy snare hits and a beefy, almost bassy guitar sound. Whispers of “The Garden” from Clockwork Angels can even be heard on “As Best We Can,” a contemplative piece led by acoustic guitars. Where The Lightbringers deviates from its alt rock Rush homage is in song structure, as Orion is more interested in extended pieces ranging anywhere from seven to ten minutes long – not that extreme in the context of prog, but definitely more adventurous than usual for this style.

The Lightbringers shows quite the acumen for writing catchy alt-rock-meets-prog passages, leaning into the prominent edge of guitars on tracks like “The Tumult of My Heart,” “This Sickness,” and “The Falling Heavens” while leaving space for more sentimental and heartfelt moments within the style on “The Ghosts Among Us.” While the production may not be crystal-clear at all times, it lends itself magnificently to the more lively moments of The Lightbringers, leaving plenty of space for the drums to explode and taking full advantage of the high-energy songwriting. Some moments even give me chills, such as the satisfying climax of “The Ghosts Among Us,” featuring one of The Lightbringers’s best and most exciting choruses.

I’ve given the good news first, though, and the bad news is that the aforementioned chorus is a marked exception to the rule: Orion does excellently with most musical passages, infusing tracks with a sense of excitement and conviction, but save “The Ghosts Among Us” and the title track, The Lightbringers’s choruses are wholly underwhelming. “This Sickness” has an aggressive edge that engages me throughout the intro and into the verses, but an excellent drum fill eventually staggers into a chorus that, for lack of a better description, is just there; “The Falling Heavens” falls into a similar pattern, as a groovy and percussive beginning builds up magnificently to a plodding and somewhat awkward chorus; and the chorus of “As Best We Can” is virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the track. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t need a powerful chorus to enjoy a track, but when the buildup is so exciting and leads to such an unsatisfying payoff, it casts a halo effect on the piece as a whole. I would be interested to see Orion experiment with more non-linear songwriting styles, iterating and evolving the excellent ideas he establishes early on in tracks.

Another issue that mars my enjoyment of The Lightbringers is the mixing. While the production is effective at making every moment sound huge, it is a double-edged sword as there is exceedingly limited dynamic range as a consequence: tracks that feel like they should be quieter, like “As Best We Can,” feel entirely in-your-face, an unbecoming juxtaposition to the song’s somber and contemplative topic of failing relationships. In a similar vein, “Scattering Stars,” the title track, and “The Ghosts Among Us” have many moments that would lend themselves to quieter mixing and would give emphasis to their more urgent passages, as the persistent loudness makes the album feel samey and strips many sections of their identity.

Let’s cut to the chase: The Lightbringers is a far cry from a bad album and shows promise with many exciting moments, nailing many things that later-era Rush got right by delivering a hefty alt-rock punch with a progressive twist, and even doing things somewhat outside of the Rush milieu to craft its own identity. However, a few songwriting misses compound with a brickwalled dynamic range to mar the listening experience, missing the secret touch that Orion needs to craft a complete musical experience. Given that Orion is only on his second album, I am far from faithless that his songwriting chops will refine with time and fully launch his career out of the cradle.

Recommended tracks: The Ghosts Among Us, The Tumult of my Heart, The Lightbringers
You may also like: Mile Marker Zero, Rendezvous Point, Fusebox Poet, Maraton
Final verdict: 6.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Official Website | Facebook

Label: Independent

Orion is:
– Ben Jones (everything)