Orion

The Arc of Orion

The pivots — what forced Orion to reinvent.

1. 01

   The Cool Death Flashpoint

   In 2017, the Sydney trio aligned with the Melbourne-based punk label Cool Death Records to cut their singular self-titled record. Sarah Davis, Dizzy, and Yuta Matsumura tracked a set of tense, synth-bitten post-punk that eschewed the typical garage-rock fuzz of the Australian underground. The record captured a distinct shift in the local scene toward a colder, more European-influenced synth-punk sound. It remains a stark, isolated monument because the band stopped almost immediately after its release.

Influences

• The Cure — Yuta Matsumura's melodic, high-register basslines on the 2017 LP are a direct nod to Simon Gallup's work on Seventeen Seconds. You hear that same cold, driving prominent bass carrying the melody while the guitar screeches in the background. It is the exact same formula that defined the early Trilogy era.
• New Order — The band's use of mechanical drum patterns paired with melancholic, soaring guitar leads directly mirrors the early movement of New Order transition from Joy Division. Track 'Time Passing' carries that exact bittersweet, danceable gloom. It is the sound of Manchester transposed to a sweaty Sydney basement.
• The Sound — Adrian Borland's urgent, desperate vocal delivery and the driving, unpretentious post-punk of Jeopardy heavily informed how Orion structured their hooks. Sarah Davis delivers lines with that same anxious, non-theatrical intensity. They traded the usual goth theatrics for a starker, more direct punch to the chest.
• Lowlife — The shimmering, chorus-drenched guitar leads on the self-titled album trace directly back to the ethereal post-punk of 1980s Scottish cult band Lowlife. The track 'Execution' relies on that specific, watery guitar tone to create space. It prevents the minimal rhythm section from sounding too barren.
• Total Control — As older statesmen of the Australian synth-punk revival, Total Control set the blueprint for Orion's cold-wave-meets-hardcore-punk template. Yuta Matsumura was deeply embedded in this exact Melbourne/Sydney DIY pipeline. You can hear that gritty, synth-integrated Aussie punk DNA across every second of the Orion LP.