Purveyors of all things metal and all round drunken reprobates Orange Goblin return with their new record " Healing Through Fire". With new album, DVD and record deal in hand we caught up with main-man Ben to see what else 2007 would hold for the Goblin.

Things are great actually. The new deal with Sanctuary is all sorted, we have a trip to Portugal lined up in a week or so and we start recording the new album on March 3rd.

2007 looks as if it is shaping up to be a busy year for you guys. I suppose the logical place to start is to get some news on the new record. How is it coming along?

Well, we are definitely excited about recording again but there is still a lot of hard work to do and not much time to do it in. The majority of the album is written but there is still fine tuning that needs to be done. We have purposely kept our cards close to our chest with this album and I hope people will be pleasantly surprised when they hear it. There are always last minute panics when everyone thinks ‘Oh shit, maybe we could have done that better’ but it’s all part of the process.

This album has taken a huge influence from our local history (London) and specifically the Great Plague and The Fire, and the title is just a reflection of how London eventually got rid of the plague, by fire.

As stated before, it is VERY loosely based on these themes and it is in no way a concept album because there is absolutely no consideration of the chronology of events but more an elaboration of the facts. I spent a lot of time studying Samuel Pepys and Daniel Defoe and thought that we could add a bit of invention, like perhaps the plague victims can return as zombies and run rampant through the streets of Restoration-era London.

The band has been a four piece now for some time, who brings what to the writing process? How do you bring an Orange Goblin song together?

The band has always been very democratic and no-one really rules, especially with regard to the song writing. Joe and Chris contribute the majority of the ideas but Martyn and I have a large say in the structure and direction of the songs. I also write 100% of the lyrics so everybody earns their corn! It is always a slow process for us to write new material because we are one of those bands that tries to get away with rehearsing once a month at most but when we need to work we seem to get the job done. It’s harder these days with Chris living in Hove and all of us having jobs and children that take priority.

We will be in the studio from March 3rd through to March 17th. It’s not long but we seem to record quickly. We are coming back to London to record this one, the only other album recorded in London was the Big Black. We always move away to record to help focus on the album and distance ourselves from the pubs and distractions of London but we are committed to making this album the best yet and these days consider the music actually more important than the booze!

What direction is the new material taking? Is this a continuation of the last record?

I always tend to give the same answer to this question. People should really know by now what to expect from an Orange Goblin album but there is always a desire to better ourselves. I would say that we have evolved as musicians and writers and we now have a kind of telepathy so we know exactly what each other is thinking or trying to get across. This has resulted in a better chemistry and I think the new material reflects that. We’ve tried to incorporate a little bit of all the previous Orange Goblin albums into everything, there are keyboards again, a little bit of acoustic stuff, some blues harp, a real mish-mash of good old fashioned heavy rock and metal!

We don’t wanna reveal too much yet, but the new songs we have played live were called ‘The Ballad Of Solomon Eagle’ and ‘They Come Back (Harvest Of Skulls)’

This record is the first for new label Sanctuary. How did the deal come about? What’s the story behind leaving Rise Above Records?

The split with Rise Above was totally amicable and we are still great friends with Lee and everyone associated with the label. They gave us ten great years of support and we will be forever in their debt for that. We just fancied something new, Rise Above gave us their blessing to look around and Sanctuary popped up just at the right time. They had just done a great job with the last Venom album and said all the right things to us. Since the deal they have given us total freedom to do what we like and have been great. I think that they will do a fantastic job of promoting this new album and hopefully it’ll be the start of a long professional relationship.

There appears as though a significant round of touring will follow the release of ‘Healing Through Fire’. Aside from the UK where will you guys be heading?

Touring is difficult for us these days due to the jobs and children but we do our best to play as many shows as we possibly can. There is a UK tour in May followed by trips to Ireland and some summer festivals in June. We will then hit Europe in September for a few weeks and some more UK dates at the tail end of 2007. In 2008 we will probably return to the US and we hope to get to Australia and Japan again too.

I’m always interested how bands juggle their private and public lives. What constraints / pressures does touring put upon you and the other guys?

It’s very hard. Our jobs and families are now our priorities and we treat the band as more of a hobby, but it’s a vital release for all of us. We still have that hunger to write and perform and it’s great to meet up in the pub and have a few beers before and after rehearsal. We are fortunate that we have understanding bosses and we all seem to get around to fulfilling all our commitments.

In addition to the new album there is the live DVD in the pipeline. Recorded at your London show, how did this idea come about and when can we expect the DVD to be released?

The DVD was recorded in December and we are delighted at how it’s come out. It was originally going to be a bonus disc for the special edition of the album but because it came out so well we are now looking to make it a proper 2 DVD package. One disc with the whole live show and another disc with extras including making the album, tour footage in the US and Europe, videos etc etc. It should be exciting and a fresh challenge for all of us.

Like I said, this band is now a hobby and there is no reason for us to not continue. We all still love doing it and have a genuine passion for the music. I never expected to achieve the sort of success that we have but I knew that we’d all still be doing something.

Raven's Creed appears to be gaining momentum, and your first demo isn’t far away. What does Raven’s Creed give you that cannot be expressed in Orange Goblin? Do you anticipate any conflict of interests with your time etc?

We now have a four-track demo recorded with vocals and we are very excited about it. Steve (Watson) is gonna shop it around to a few labels, see what happens and hopefully play a few shows this year. It is understood that Orange Goblin is our priority band so there will be no conflict of interests. Ravens Creed gives Martyn and I the chance to reveal our passion for extreme music a little more. We love old-school thrash, black and death metal and that wouldn’t work with Orange Goblin. It was the same when Chris did Dukes of Nothing, he had to vent his youthful love of Black Flag and punk. Martyn and I are just doing it now with Slayer, Venom, Celtic Frost and Entombed!

We are past caring what we get categorised as really. I can see why people call us stoner, we embraced the term at first, then as scenes get stale people distance themselves but we are not so naïve anymore and just consider ourselves a good heavy-rock band. And we are available for children’s parties!

Stay clean!