In the southern parts of Sweden, between the two major revered metal cities, Gothenburg and Stockholm lie the small town of Eksjö, just about 60 kilometers from Jönköping. From Eksjö, best known for its old wooden architecture dating back to the 1400th century comes the four-piece metal band we know today, Orbit Culture.
Orbit Culture was founded in 2013 by member Niklas Karlsson and ex-member Maximilian Zinsmeister. Both singer and guitarist Niklas and lead guitarist Maximilian did participate in different music constellations back and forth across the county. At the age of 17, Niklas and Maximilian met each other through mutual friends in Eksjö, and through the same love of heavy riffing and writing songs; Niklas and Maximilian decided to start a small jam group.
Niklas and Maximilian hired a small rehearsal space in an old power plant station. The intention and passion of writing and recording music were there from the beginning, but exploiting the rehearsal room as a drinking place was a bit more important to the young men during the inception of the band. It wasn’t until early 2013 when Niklas and Maximilian started to really get into the recording techniques due to the boys getting their hands on the Line 6 POD UX1.
Niklas quickly started to write songs for their debut EP, ‘Orbit Culture’ along with Maximilian getting his friend, drummer, and ex-bandmate on board from Maximilian’s precious metal project, Abstract Noise to take on the drum parts. Fellow friend and bassist Christoffer Olsson joined the trio and ‘Orbit Culture’ was born. The band spent most of the summer of 2013 indoors to record, mix and produce the first set of songs by Orbit Culture that later would be known as ‘Odyssey’.
The EP ‘Orbit Culture’ was self-released by the band first in August 2013 followed by a remaster and a new title with the same set of songs including the instrumental versions in December that same year. Orbit Culture and their debut EP ‘Odyssey’ gained local interest and the band played their first set of shows in their hometown promoting the new EP.
The rather small but nonetheless satisfying attention both locally and internationally took the guys by surprise and Niklas quickly started to write on their debut full-length album during the winter. Niklas and the band finished the album in the spring of 2014 and quickly sent off the files for mixing and mastering to fellow friend Klas Blomgren.
Orbit Culture’s debut full-length album ‘In Medias Res’ was self-released in July 2014 and shortly after, the band pushed on and recorded their first music video for the track ‘Obscurity’ and played a handful of shows locally to promote the new album. The band and the new album gained more and more fans internationally and the hunt for something more mature sounding began.
In 2015, lead guitarist Maximilian decided to leave the band to pursue other interests followed by bassist Christoffer leaving the band to go to university leaving Niklas and Markus the only members left in the band. Though two members and close friends had left the band, Niklas was determined to write and finish the record during the year.
Their second full-length album ‘Rasen’ was self-released in the spring of 2016 and the duo of what was left of Orbit Culture was given a lot of attention online due to their single ‘Sun Of All’. Quickly after the release, Niklas and Markus started to search for a new lead guitarist and bassist. A couple of months later, it was announced that Richard Hansson (Bash Brothers, Straight A’s) had taken over the lead guitar parts in Orbit Culture. After joining the band, Richard called his old friend Fredrik Lennartsson (People In Distress) from another small town nearby Eksjö called Vetlanda and asked if he was interested in joining the band. Fredrik Lennartsson packed his stuff and became a member of Orbit Culture that same day.
During the late summer of 2016, the band decided to record a music video for their top single ‘Sun Of All’ which they released shortly after. The band gained a lot of attention online and more show opportunities started to rake in. However, no labels were interested as of yet, but the band pushed on and Niklas started to write on their next EP which is known today as ‘Redfog’.
Niklas started to analyze his previous work immensely and tried to figure out what mistakes he could avoid and what writing approach he would take with this new set of songs. Heavy drums and big guitars with catchy choruses were the goal. Niklas wrote and recorded for the most part of 2017 alongside playing their well-earned set at the 2017’s Gefle Metal Festival. In late 2017, the band decided to record three different music videos for three of the five songs on the new EP.
In March 2018, The band released their first single from the EP ‘Redfog’ called ‘Saw’ with a music video. The song became an instant success in the metal underground scene raking in over 1,600,000 streams on Spotify, and YouTube combined over the course of two years. The second song in line for release was the more mellow and melancholy song ‘See Through Me’ and the band’s take on anxiety in the lyrics became more prominent. The title track ‘Redfog’ hit the cyber world on the 23rd of March and the song finally put the band on the map all over the world. As the year went on, more and more people started to get into Metallica/Gojira/Behemoth-influenced Orbit Culture.
The band started to get recognized by major labels in the metal music industry. Orbit Culture finally settled their first record deal with Seek & Strike Records in late 2018 sharing a roster with bands like Upon A Burning Body, Kill The Kong, Reckoning Hour, and more.
In early 2019, the band landed their first booking agency, Avocado Booking set the band on their first-ever tour supporting Rivers Of Nihil alongside Black Crown Initiate and MOL for the fall of 2019.
During the spring and summer, Niklas started to write and record their third full-length album with the first single ‘Nensha’ being released through Seek & Strike Records on the 20th of September on the same day as the band played their first-ever show outside Sweden at Cassiopeia, Berlin on the Rivers Of Nihil Tour.
The band finished the tour and returned home to finalize the new album ‘Nija’. Orbit Culture released another single from the album called ‘Rebirth’, continuing the story and concept of ‘Nensha’. The band released their highly praised track ‘The Shadowing’ in late March capping off the trilogy.
In between March and April, like many other bands, the band was forced to cancel all of their upcoming shows of 2020 due to the pandemic of COVID-19. The new album ‘Nija’, originally planned for a May release, got postponed to August 7th, 2020. With the free time given during the pandemic, the band started to work on a new music video and single to accompany the release of the album, which later came to be known as the heavy-hitting track ‘Open Eye’.
During the summer, the band prepared for their much-anticipated release of 'Nija'. The album Nija was finally released on August 7th, 2020, and it was embraced with critical acclaim from both reviewers and fans across the globe. The album launched the band from the underground metal scene into the top ranks, and with that, countless festival and tour offers started to rake in.
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With the pandemic still at large around this time, the band was forced to cancel more shows. However, the band felt to utilize the free time given to its fullest extent, so the band quickly headed back to the studio to record a new EP.
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The EP became known as 'Shaman' and was released in September 2021. The band wanted to stray away from the more mechanical sound of their previous album, 'Nija,' and focus more on writing songs that would fit the live aspect better once the pandemic calmed down, but the band and the rest of the world would have to wait a bit longer.
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Roll forward the tape to June 2022, when the band entered the Silja Stage at Sweden Rock Festival 2022; the band did not know what to expect or who would show up. To the band's surprise, the fields in front of the stage were completely packed with fans, so it began.
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Having played at Sweden Rock Festival, Download Festival, Bloodstock, and countless other major festivals around Europe, the band ended their summer opening for In Flames at their exclusive show 'Dalhalla Brinner' in Rättvik, Dalhalla. This was a significant starting point for touring, as In Flames invited the band to open up for In Flames on their US and European tours later the same year.
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Just before the tour started in September of 2022, the band released their latest single, 'Vultures Of North', from their upcoming new album.
With two hugely successful tours opening up for In Flames in both the US and Europe, the band is now preparing for their new album release, 'Descent'.