{"id":60352,"date":"2018-05-24T22:00:33","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T21:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=60352"},"modified":"2018-05-24T20:23:34","modified_gmt":"2018-05-24T19:23:34","slug":"review-black-orchid-empire-yugen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-black-orchid-empire-yugen\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Black Orchid Empire – Yugen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The best way to describe London\u2019s Black Orchid Empire<\/b> would be adequate. They\u2019re among the current breed of hard rock acts going through all the necessary channels to reach where they want to be, only to move up the ladder incrementally at best, and yet, they\u2019re at least taking those steps. They\u2019ve been slogging away with live shows, building an audience, and with \u2019Yugen\u2019<\/i>, they\u2019re displaying the signs\u00a0of longevity with a second album.<\/p>\n

And really, it\u2019s fine enough, though if Black Orchid Empire<\/b> expect to break down any doors with their fairly lukewarm, middle-of-the-road hard rock, they\u2019re sorely mistaken. It\u2019s pretty harmless in all fairness; \u2019Burn\u2019<\/i> and \u2019Blacklight Shadow\u2019<\/i> could potentially do something on rock radio with the right push, and Paul Visser\u2019s sweeter, more melodically-charged vocals are a solid change of pace from the norm. For the most part, it\u2019s all fine, perfectly listenable stuff.<\/p>\n