On disc: Orden Ogan

 
 Vale
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Vale
 
- Thomas -
 
 


 
 Easton Hope
 
- Mike Thompson -
 
 


 
 Vale (re-release)
 
- Lars Bjørn -
 
 


 
 Vale (re-release)
 
- Mike Thompson -
 
 


 
 To The End
 
- Stephanie Malin -
 
 

To The End

(AFM Records  - 2012)



 
 

 

Orden Ogan have always put out excellent material in the past, and To The End is no exception. The album opens with The Frozen Few (an instrumental introduction), and it is immediately obvious that the album is going to be something spectacular. Every instrument is used to its full potential, and the production quality is wonderful. The album's title track, To The End, sounds disappointingly generic to start off with, but then we get to the fantastically anthemic chorus. The guitar solos are brilliant: not the typical fretwankery that can be heard on power metal albums, but fantastic nevertheless. The Things We Believe In is another little gem, with more anthemic vocal work and a riff that sounds heaven-sent; this is arguably one of the best tracks on the album. Land Of The Dead carries on in the same vein and does not particularly offer anything new, but it is superb regardless. The beautiful acoustic song The Ice Kings adds a pinch of variety to the album before the heavier material kicks back in with Till The Stars Cry Out. Much like To The End, before the chorus kicks in for the first time, Till The Stars Cry Out would be an easy song to dismiss as unoriginal, but after that first chorus, the song just gets better and better. The song after that, This World Of Ice, is much heavier than most on the album and is a fantastic contrast. After that we reach Dying Paradise, which is, unfortunately, the token filler song on the album, complete with generic heavy metal ending and everything. Mystic Symphony, thankfully, is definitely an improvement: all of the instrumentals are out-of-this-world, and the background chorus is absolutely stunning. Once Angels War gets into the swing of things, it has so much to offer too: the electric guitars usually play riffs that are hard as nails, but once your focus is drawn away from said riffs, you will discover breathtaking melodies to rival some of those in the finest power metal songs to date. The regular album finishes with Take This Light, a heartwarming acoustic piano ballad which is certainly a surprising - yet welcome - end to the album. However, the limited digipak also contains the song Masks which is so awesome that it is a true mystery that it never made it onto the regular album. The limited version then finishes with a brilliant cover of Running Wild's legendary The Battle Of Waterloo, which goes above and beyond expectations. Orden Ogan hit the nail of the head once more, and an album like this surely deserves to go down in metal history. To The End is definitely worth a listen - or two, or three, or four...

 
 










Stephanie Malin


  
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Vale (re-release 2010)

(AFM Records - 2010)



 
 

 

I'm a big fan of Orden Ogan and count the band's latest opus Easton Hope amongst my favorite melodic metal albums. The previous album, 2008's Vale, was my starting point with the band and impressed me from the off. I never felt it a classic but it was enough to pique my interest in the German quintet and travel across Europe to see them. Two years after the original release on Yonah Records Vale has been remastered, repackaged and re-released through AFM. I'm always a little wary of a remaster that appears so soon after the original as it tends to reek of 'cash-in' but does Vale go the same way?

To my ears there really wasn't much in the way of improvement in the mastering of this album. I could hear the differences but in all honesty I mostly preferred the tracks the way they were. This was most noticeable on ...And If You Do Right, one of my favorite Orden Ogan songs. The feeling of the song seemed different and what I liked about it seemed to have gone missing. I guess this is the problem of growing to love a song and then hearing the same song but slightly different. Not all of the songs suffer this way. The classic To New Shores Of Sadness has been improved by slightly by the tinkering but that's the problem; the improvements are minor and make me think 'what was the point?'

This edition contains four bonus tracks. The first is a 'folk' version of Running Wild tribute We Are Pirates. To be honest I'm not really into this version of the song. Its okay but nowhere near as fun as the original. The demo version of Winds Of Vale is an enjoyable version of the song with no vocals. Welcome Liberty (Orchestral Version) is a version of the song with no guitars keyboards in the foreground. Very nice but a little pointless. The final track is the best of the bunch. The Yearning Remains is a nine minute epic showcasing what Orden Ogan do well; a Blind Guardian-esque melodic metal masterpiece.

It goes without saying that if you don't own this album already then you should buy it. Vale is a very strong album that fans of the likes of Blind Guardian will absolutely adore. The re-release also comes in a very snazzy digipack case and with the four bonus tracks this is a very good package for new fans.

For the older Orden Ogan fans who already own Vale I would hesitate to recommend this. The remastered tracks aren't really an improvement and the bonus tracks aren't special enough to justify handing over your hard-earned cash.

I'll give this album 8 for the new fans, if you already have the album its probably only worth 6/10.

 
 










Mike Thompson


  
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Vale (re-release 2010)

(AFM Records - 2010)



 
 

 

German power metal band Orden Ogan has re-released their 2008 album Vale, original 12 songs + 5 bonus songs. The thought is clearly ok, but maybe a little odd after their 2010 super release Easton Hope. Anyway, they sum up their earlier songs, a mix and more mix of different styles. I find it to be a problem that they jump around as much as they do on this album. The case is that Orden Ogan is gifted with a divine talent, they do brilliant and beautiful music, but if they could find a character and a path to walk on, it would get hundred times better, something they are already showing on their CD Easton Hope. Epic confusion, piano, violins, flute, background whispering, folk music, melodic fairytale experimenting, bombastic ballads and also songs that lacks substance.

They have two versions of the song Winds Of Vale, and the best of them is absolutely the demo version. This almost saves the whole album. Cover version of Running Wild song We Are Pirates is good funny and real metal, but but but it is the way that Rock'n'Rolf plays. Orden Ogan is not in the same class, not quite same quality or technique. Then among the good parts is the song This Is. There we get real good rock, power metal with a strong character. Also The Lord Of The Flies is a good song with choir to back up the splendid guitar work. Inspired by William Goldings book about the boys left on their own, also Orden Ogan must try to find a style that fits them. Main man Sebastian Seeb Levermann has the quality to create great things, he just needs to concentrate about it. The last song is called The Yearning Remains, it's a melodic guitar driven ballad with classical inspiration from Iron Maiden. Otherwise there are clearly inspirations from band like Queensrÿche and Blind Guardian in the music that Orden Ogan makes, and it would be interesting to follow them in the future.

 
 










Lars Bjørn


  
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Easton Hope

(AFM Records - 2010)



 
 

 

Orden Ogan are a melodic power metal band from Germany whose second album, Vale, brought them much critical acclaim and gained them a place on the billing for Wacken 2010. So what is it about Orden Ogan that separates them from every other European power metal band? Well, for a start they aren't purveyors of cheese so forget ninety percent of the power metal bands you've heard because these guys are nothing like them. If forced I'd say they probably have the aura of Sonata Arctica and Blind Guardian as they are very melodic and technical with great song writing prowess. However, even saying that they sound still very different to either Sonata or Guardian!

So, Easton Hope, this young band's third full-length. Does it deliver on the promise shown in Vale? The album begins with a short two minute intro, Rise And Ruin, an epic and majestic keyboard intro with some nice work from the Choir of Ogan, which is a key feature of this band's sound. This is a nice piece that sets the tone for the album and Orden Ogan's majestic style.

After the intro Nobody Leaves begins with some nice controlled guitar work before the furious riffing and vocals begin. Lead singer Sebastien 'Seeb' Levermann has a voice that is quite unique in the world of power metal. He doesn't do the high pitched wailing of many of the genres much-maligned frontmen but nor does he have the grittiness evident in such singers as Iron Savior's Piet Sielck. The vocals are clear and mid-range and always fit the music. The amount of emotion present in Seeb's voice is astounding. Every word, every nuance is just oozing with feeling.

One thing you will notice about Orden Ogan is that although they utilize extensive keyboard parts in every song, they are quite tastefully done. They never, ever, fall into the cheese trap. The guitars and vocals are the driving force behind Orden Ogan's music with the keyboards usually just adding an excellent and subtle layer to the band's sound.

Unlike the previous album Easton Hope is a lot more upbeat. Vale had many slower songs and ballads but the majority of this album is full of mid-fast tempo songs. Probably the best example and one of my favorite tracks on the album is the Running Wild tribute song We Are Pirates, a great song featuring Majk Moti (ex-Running Wild), that you may have seen the video for on YouTube. Far from a worthless cash-in on the current trend of 'pirate metal' this is an almost eight minute long balls-out rocker with a catchy sing-along chorus and even an accordion interlude! In the band's own words this is far more straight edge than the majority of their songs but its not less enjoyable for that. Despite its long duration the song actually feels only half that length!

One of the only slow tracks on the album, Reqiuem is also another of my favorites. It is a very melancholy track at first but once the magnificent vocal harmonies come in it takes on an uplifting feel.

There quite simply isn't a bad track on this album. Most of the nine songs are well over the five minute mark but the album doesn't feel that long. In fact, once it had finished I found myself wanting to listen to it again!

Its so refreshing to find that even in an over-saturated genre like power metal that bands can discover their own niche and deliver a truly fresh sounding album. I have nothing but praise for each of these exceptionally talented musicians that make up Orden Ogan and cannot recommend Easton Hope enough. Already I think we've seen one of the best power metal releases of the year, perhaps even the decade.

If you want a taster of what to expect try the video for We Are Pirates at www.wearepirates.de

Enjoy!
 
 






Mike Thompson


  
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Vale

(Yonah Records - 2008)



 
 

 

The band Orden Ogan is around for more then a decade, but released their first album in 2004 on their own. Now they have a record label and release Vale.

They open up with a slow, melodic, folk-ish intro called Graves Bay - and it sounds quite familiar... But with To New Shores Of Sadness they kick off with heavy riffs and some keyboard sequences. The quintet offers power metal, but with a folk touch and a dash bombast. Fast double bass drumming forces them ahead, but the powerful backings take off the edge partly. But they have slower passages as well as mid-tempo ones. A good tune to check them out! A melodic tune with a melancholy touch is Farewell, but again they managed to create a track with power and passion, with a catchy refrain without getting cheesy! Another strong point of Orden Ogan is the guitar play and the clear, powerful voice of guitarist and singer Seeb - who is joined on guitar by Tobias Kersting (Duke). I could go on telling you about the different songs, but to keep it short, if you like power metal with different elements an varying speeds, if the use of violins or flute don't scare you off, then listen to Orden Ogan!

This album shows that sometimes it takes a bit longer to create a great piece of music! And it shows that a debut album released by a small label can really kick ass and make you forget about all the established bands! Any 2 songs can win you, so just listen  - and buy it!
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Vale

(Yonah Records - 2008)



 
 

 

Orden Ogan is a new band from Germany and with Vale they present their newest album. And I have to say, this is a real cool one! They deliver about 54 min. of finest melodic metal. With singer and lead guitarist Sebastian 'Seeb' Levermann they have a good frontman. The 12 tracks focus on melodies, but never get cheesy. A killer track is Lord Of The Flies - for that one they did a video clip - which shows that they knew when to use the violin or just to concentrate on the 'classical' instruments. They use symphonic sounds when it fits, but also some prog elements and folk they add to their traditional power metal - something we know from bands like Blind Guardian and Elvenking.

The production is quite good, even if they are just signed to a small company. But I guess that soon a bigger label will show interest, if they walk the path they chose. I hope they are live as good as on disk... Anyway, I'm looking forward to hear more from the German youngsters!
My resume: Great band, great songs, great album and a cool video!
 
 










Thomas (guest writer)
(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
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