Pittsburgh local music spotlight: Sachem Orenda

Mike Palm
Monday, Nov. 3, 2025 7:01 a.m. | Monday, Nov. 3, 2025 7:01 a.m.

Sachem Orenda

Pittsburgh musician Sachem Orenda

Sachem Orenda

Pittsburgh musician Sachem Orenda’s EP “Industrial Metal Music”

Sachem Orenda

Pittsburgh musician Sachem Orenda’s album “Heroism/Coincidental”

Solo artist Sachem Orenda will mark the 15th anniversary of his 2010 album “Heroism/Coincidental” by playing a throwback show this week.

“2025 is the 15th anniversary of my second album, ‘Heroism/Coincidental,’ and I haven’t played those songs in years. That was probably my most popular album of the original trilogy,” Orenda said. “I really pushed the single, ‘Romance,’ which had three remixes from Paul McGranite, Electric Type (who now records as Clone 334) and Peter Tanico. It was a very popular song amongst those who had heard it. But like I said, my genres vary widely, so one song of the album could be synthpop like Romance and another song could be industrial; another is one of the few rap songs I’ve ever written. That album is all over the place!”

His latest release, “Industrial Metal Music,” came out last year.

“It is essentially one large work in five movements, a large scale industrial work presented in a bit of a classical style. The song titles are actually just officially Movement One, Movement Two, Movement Three, Movement Four and Movement Five,” he said. “You may see that I list some nicknames for them on certain websites. These are not official names. They are really just terms of endearment to refer to them when I don’t feel like calling them the movements. So yes, the nicknames are comic book characters — Eddie Brock, Kei, Emanuel Santana, John Difool and Selina Kyle.”

Orenda said this was the first album where he went all out on guitar.

“My older records are more electronic based with guitar coming in here and there. I thought I would write one record that really showed off who I am as a guitar player. I also never wrote a fully industrial record despite that probably being my favorite subgenre of electronic music,” he said. “There is a lot of Moog synthesizer on the record. I’ve always wanted to have a heavy metal band that had a Moog player instead of a bass guitar player. ‘Industrial Metal Music’ really showcases what that would sound like.

“The record is completely instrumental though. I really encourage other bands to take this idea of Moog (or other analog synthesizer) instead of a bass guitar and do it in a vocal metal band format. I would love to see more of that in heavy music.”

Orenda, who gave a shout-out to Squirrel Hill Sports Bar after a recent performance, said he values all of Pittsburgh’s music venues for “keeping art alive in the city.” As for what he enjoys most about live shows?

“I enjoy the unpredictability! You never know what’s gonna happen,” he said. “Things could get in the way, and you might not be able to perform a song the way it’s supposed to be performed. Therefore, you can get a completely unique version of a song at any concert. I also incorporate a lot of improvisation into many of my songs so you literally are not getting the same thing twice with those particular songs.”

Orenda filled in TribLive on what else we should know about his music:

Musician: Sachem Orenda

Band member: I’m a solo artist, not even any guests in the studio. All of the vocals and instrumentation on all four of my records came directly from me.

Founding story: I played my first solo show at Howler’s Coyote Café in 2007. Basically, as soon as I obtained a sequencer that could arrange full songs, I wrote a whole concert’s worth of music and started performing out as quickly as I could.

For fans of: The new record, “Industrial Metal Music,” for fans of Ministry, 3teeth, Fear Factory, etc. The older albums vary widely on genre. I would say they are for anyone who is a fan of electronic music in general.

Influences: Mostly composers such as Raymond Watts, Martin Gore, Al Jourgensen, Gary Numan and Trent Reznor

Releases: “Ethical Atheism” album, 2008; “Heroism/Coincidental” album, 2010; “Apology for Popular Music and the Nihilistic Demiurge” album, 2012; “Industrial Metal Music” EP, 2024

Next show: Nov. 8 at the Government Center with Love Dumpster and Calico Dogs.

How to find him: Orenda can be found on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Bandcamp.

Three other Pittsburgh area bands to check out: Love Dumpster, Calico Dogs, Red Lokust

Favorite pizza shop: Hard to choose, but I’m gonna give the shout out to Rialto’s in Greenfield.

Mike Palm is a TribLive digital producer who also writes music reviews and features. A Westmoreland County native, he joined the Trib in 2001, where he spent years on the sports copy desk, including serving as night sports editor. He has been with the multimedia staff since 2013. He can be reached at mpalm@triblive.com.

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