True Or False

Aband featuring members of Porcupine Tree and King Crimson were always going to be considered a prog supergroup, but O.R.k are continuing to prove there is much more beyond the label. With fifth album Firehose Of Falsehoods another impressive addition to the quartet's catalogue, Prog catches up with bassist Colin Edwin to find out more.

- Words: Chris Cope

Firehose of falsehood is a propaganda technique credited to the Russians, where a flood of messaging — including disinformation — influences the public narrative. It's also — just about — the name of O.R.k's fifth album, and with all that's going on in the world, it feels pretty apt.

“Especially now in the information overload age that we live in, it’s very difficult to know what is actually true and what isn’t,” bassist Colin Edwin says down the line from his studio.

At the core of Firehose Of Falsehoods is the dichotomy between disinformation and artists, such as musicians, who seek to tell the truth.

“We spend all our time expressing ourselves and trying to be true to our art, and trying to get across situations and emotional stuff that we're dealing with ourselves,” Edwin adds.

“That's kind of what art is, what music is: it’s emotional reflection. It felt interesting that we’re surrounded in this world, which is subject to falsehoods all the time, but we're the opposites of that.”

O.R.k's fourth LP, Screamnasium was well received after its 2022 release and all eyes were on their next step. It appears the forward-thinking rockers — who are completed by King Crimson sticksman Pat Mastelotto, vocalist Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari (LEF) and guitarist Carmelo Pipitone, with the former based in the US and the latter two in Italy — have honed in on the metallic yet melodic blueprint, with some songs a grungey gut-punch and others a cinematic musing. Despite the directness, there's still plenty of adventurism, odd time signatures and out-the-box thinking — and there's the CD/digital-only bonus track Dive In, which clocks in at nearly 14 minutes.

Edwin, the former Porcupine Tree bass player, feels O.R.k are progressive in the “sense that we’re always trying to move on and always trying to draw from our own experiences collectively to make something that's all our own.