Asleep Next to Science is the debut studio album by American progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 band Orbs

Orbs (band)

Orbs is an American band consisting of Dan Briggs of Between the Buried and Me, Adam Fisher and Clayton Holyoak of Fear Before the March of Flames, Ashley Ellyllon, formerly of Abigail Williams and now of Cradle of Filth, and Chuck Johnson of Torch Runner....

. It was released on August 17, 2010 through Equal Vision Records

Equal Vision Records

Equal Vision Records is a record label based in Albany, New York, which has a focus in metal or punk-based rock genres. Equal Vision Records was founded in the early 1990s by Ray Cappo ....

 and was produced by Jamie King, known for producing Between the Buried and Me

Between the Buried and Me

Between the Buried and Me is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They have released a total of five studio albums, as well as a cover album, an EP and a live DVD/CD...

 and Alesana

Alesana

Alesana is an American rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2004, the group is currently signed to Epitaph Records and have released one EP and four full-length studio albums...

.

Background

Orbs entered the studio at The Basement recording studio in Winston-Salem, N.C. in February 2009. It was produced by Jamie King, who worked with Between the Buried and Me on Colors and The Great Misdirect. On April 4, 2010, the band released a free download of two songs from the album to fans who signed up to their mailing list.

The band describes the album as "the product of long-distance friendships linked through an appreciation for music, nature, and a mutual desire to defy common song structure."

A tour in support of the album began on August 19, 2010 in Greensboro, N.C.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Ned Raggett awarded the album 3 stars stating "Asleep Next to Science, the group's first full release, is both a familiar enough supergroup-styled effort thanks to the bandmembers' various backgrounds in acts like Between the Buried and Me and Abigail Williams and a modern version of it given that their work grew out of Internet-based collaboration. The album almost resists criticism in a way, though, because it is exactly all that -- come in expecting theatrical compositions, metal-tinged and emo-tinged and more besides, and you'll get it down to the concluding piano flourishes on 'Sayer of the Law,' not to mention plenty of keyboard breaks throughout courtesy of Ashley Ellyllon. The descending break and coda to 'Something Beautiful' show that the quintet can hit the epically melancholy heights with the best of them, and if such moments aren't always constant throughout the album, they happen enough times to set a good tone. Adam Fisher's vocals are the make-or-break point throughout -- there's something sweetly, strangely inspirational about hearing his thin, almost dorky whine riding the arrangements on songs like 'A Man of Science,' and a few times he makes it work unexpectedly, much like Billy Corgan did with his own out-of-place singing. At other points it's more hair-pulling, however, though song titles like 'Megaloblastic Madness' and the two-part 'The Northwestern Bearitories' might cause more double takes in the end -- or the line 'Chupacabras on the wing' in 'People Will Read Again.' "

Track listing

Personnel

Orbs

• Adam Fisher
  Fear Before
  Fear Before is an experimental rock band that resides in Aurora, Colorado. As stated on their Alternative Press podcast, their name originates from a Denver Post newspaper headline of local forest fires titled "The Fear Before The March of Flames." They released their debut album Odd How People...
  
   – vocals, guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Dan Briggs
  Dan Briggs (musician)
  Dan Briggs is a musician from Erie, PA, best known for playing bass guitar for the American progressive metalcore band Between the Buried and Me.He also plays guitar in the band Orbs. He is vegan...
  
   – guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Ashley Ellyllon
  Ashley Ellyllon
  Ashley "Ellyllon" Jurgemeyer is an American pianist, keyboardist and songwriter for the band Orbs and was the former pianist of the symphonic black metal band Abigail Williams and of Cradle of Filth.-Biography:...
  
   – piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , keyboards
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  
• Clayton Holyoak
  Fear Before
  Fear Before is an experimental rock band that resides in Aurora, Colorado. As stated on their Alternative Press podcast, their name originates from a Denver Post newspaper headline of local forest fires titled "The Fear Before The March of Flames." They released their debut album Odd How People...
  
   – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  
• Chuck Johnson - Additional vocals on "We the Animal" and "Lost at Sea"

Production

• Produced
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
   by Jamie King
• Audio mixing
  Audio mixing (recorded music)
  In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
  
   by Jamie King
• Illustration
  Illustration
  An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
  
  by Ben Tuttle