ORDEN OGAN – To The End
- Posted on 26-10-2012
If performed competently, there’s something spine-tingling about well-orchestrated power metal with large doses of symphonic and harmonic elements. Helloween may have started the movement, and within Germany we’ve been fortunate enough to hear other acts take the template to the stratosphere- spreading their creativity for global consumption. The four-piece known as Orden Ogan take the best of power metal’s past, incorporating elements of gothic, folk, and progressive influences- and for this third album "To The End" strike the right sonic chord that should multiply their popularity beyond their wildest dreams.
Imagine a painter with all the basic colors assembling the ideal outdoor scene- splashing about vocal harmonies glistening with Blind Guardian-ish choirs, charging guitars that intersperse the speed of Running Wild with the tenacity and passion of Gamma Ray- topped off with a rhythm section that knows when to keep an arrangement straight forward and when to propel forward with equally innovative parts and thunderous double bass. Songs such as "Dying Paradise", "Land of the Dead", and the dramatic ballad "The Ice Kings" contain all of these elements- tugging at your heart while you sway your head. The band know all the right times to create that dynamic tension, when to let the dual guitars carry the bullet train arrangement pace and then layer the multi-part background vocals and keyboards for the mid-tempo transitions for another highlight "Mystic Symphony".
Topped off by the best production Orden Ogan has had to date (sharp guitar tone and the right attunement to the symphonic/ keyboard / vocal elements ) along with the always impressive Andreas Marschall cover art, "To The End" could rival "Imaginations From The Other Side", "Somewhere Out In Space", and any other outstanding power metal effort you want to put against it- yes folks it’s that exciting. Warm up your voices as I foresee numerous sing-a-longs to this outstanding 54 minute album.