AMG Review of Orbus Terrarum [Expanded]

John Bush
All Music Guide

The perfect response to a music-scene swamped by what Paterson himself called "lame ambient noodling for seventy minutes," Orbus Terrarum brings the mothership back to earth for a collision with some surprisingly harsh percussion and noisy synth. The melodies and dub lines of previous Orb recordings are still in the mix, and the esoteric bent of Pomme Fritz is muted somewhat. Orbus Terrarum is definitely not the place to start, but it's still a worthy successor to U.F.Orb. The final track "Slug Dub" is an ambient epic with vocal samples taken from a children's story. [An expanded edition from Island in 2008 added a bonus disc, including remixes of "Plateau," "Valley," and "Slug Dub."]