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ORDEN OGAN
To The End

AFM (2012)
Rating: 7.5/10

German power metallers Orden Ogan return with their fourth full-length album, and second for AFM Records. The band have built up a cult following over the years with their own brand of power metal tinged with folk and pagan qualities. They are also recognisable as the organisers of the German metal festival WinterNachtsTraum.

This is my first experience with Orden Ogan and I’m quite surprised at To The End. I am hard pressed to name a band with as much feeling and melody in their music that still maintains the sense of heaviness present here.

‘This World Of Ice’ and ‘Land Of The Dead’ have all the majesty of power metal but are as driven as early Manowar. ‘Dying Paradise’ has a backstreet sound coupled with some insanely melodic soloing and huge gang vocals that make this among the most anthemic tracks on the album.

‘The Ice Kings’ is an epic ballad that is as musically interesting as a song like this can be. The lead guitars are huge, the vocals are completely over the top, and the underlying acoustic elements keep everything going in the same direction.

There’s plenty of three a.m. front room bar bonding songs here as well. ‘The Things We Believe In’ is an inspiring rocker that you can’t help but lift your beer, bob your head, and sing along to. The title track completely shreds, revealing quickly why the album dons its name. ‘Angels War’ takes a minute or so to get going, but once it does it’s a massive epic that will appeal to fans of power or progressive metal.

There are a few things here that I didn’t care for, such as the piano-led ‘Take This Light’ that borders on AOR and takes the album out on a completely boring note. ‘Till The Stars Cry Out’ and ‘Mystic Symphony’ chime in as average at best and do little more than round out the album. While they are enjoyable, they are also fairly forgettable in my opinion. But overall, this is a really excellent album with a few tracks that feel like filler.

Orden Ogan will unquestionably be turning heads with To The End. The album has a big bright sound combined with crisp, clean production that allows each instrument to be distinctly heard. This is the kind of production work that makes power metal so appealing because it turns these songs into full on stadium anthems. I will definitely be digging into this band’s back catalogue and look forward to hearing more from them on future releases.

Mark Fisher

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