Despite coming from a country rich in metal history, ORBIT CULTURE’s story is one of isolated teens in the rural town of Eksjö, Sweden, making music surrounded by dense, Scandinavian woods and winter gloom. “It’s dark and cold all the time and the only thing you have is snow and streetlights,” says Niklas. Inspired by a steady diet of Metallica, Gojira and Static-X, Karlsson found an outlet that would eventually become an obsession. “We were small-town kids from nowhere,” he says. “We were never part of a scene or anything, so we had to do it ourselves. We’re still very much of a ‘Do It Yourself’ kind of band.”