vote
7.5
- Band:
ORDER OGAN - Duration: 00:48:09
- Available from: 05/07/2024
- Label:
-
Reigning Phoenix Music
Streaming not yet available
Although their interludes dedicated to the Far West, glacial apocalypse and dystopian future are still to our liking, we are thrilled to say that, for the first time in their career, the Teutonic power metallers Orden Ogan are officially bringing back into fashion one of their previously used concepts, specifically the one with a more gothic and horror flavour, the flagship of the highly appreciated “Ravenhead” dated 2015, the year in which the famous video game “Bloodborne” was also released, with which the aforementioned album shares not only the release date, but also more than a few stylistic drifts.
This is undoubtedly one of the highest quality works by Sebastian Levermann and his associates, who never miss an opportunity to propose a good number of excerpts at each live appearance; it is therefore not surprising that, among all the themes addressed, the choice fell precisely on the one that made the fortune of a product so appreciated by critics and the public, of which the brand new “The Order Of Fear” is a sort of artistic and narrative sequel, despite the continuation of the story of the mascot Alister Vale acting as a link between all their productions.
Musically, we are in the presence of the peculiar compositional style of Arnsberg's combo, based on a contemporary and personal version of the power metal made famous by bands like their compatriots Blind Guardian, with the addition of some deviations aimed at enhancing the atmosphere of the product in question, which must clearly be epic, but also gloomy and melancholic in its dark aftertaste, pertaining both to horror and to a certain form of dark fantasy with gothic hues.
The beginning is quite sudden, as there is no prelude or intro, but rather a double bass drum blast at breakneck speed in conjunction with the opener “Kings Of The Underworld”, followed by the already well-known title track, which seems decidedly more cadenced and singable, although not devoid of grit. The latter could be defined as the archetype of the majority of the songs included in the package: the general direction tends to present excerpts that do not push too hard on the accelerator, preferring instead the choruses, the catchiness and the atmosphere, although maintaining a good dose of metallic aggression, unlike what happened in the penultimate release, in which the pop drift became a bit too invasive at alternating stages. All this is also well enhanced by “Prince Of Sorrow” and the excellent “Blind Man”, which has quickly become one of our favorites; however, we would not have disdained a more furious general drift, in line with what was proposed in the spiritual predecessor released nine years ago.
No big deal, fortunately the clean execution (the very dark guitars are a delight) and the quality of the individual songs keep the bar high: in fact, we do not believe there are any real weak points in the tracklist, net of a slight redundancy of the individual solutions, tempered however during the last acts; impossible not to mention, in this regard, the ballad “My Worst Enemy” and the long and destructive “Anthem To The Darkside”, in which the most combative inspiration of Orden Ogan comes back to make itself felt, together with their ability to package less 'predictable' songs, to the point of making it probably the best of the entire album.
The same flair is also present in the final suite “The Long Darkness”, which despite a less angry pace still manages to show off a good part of the various elements handled by a band that, at times, seems perhaps a little afraid to leave its comfort zone, as can be seen from a fairly linear first part of the setlist.
Despite a couple of slight doubts described above, we believe that Alister Vale's second adventure on the outskirts of the gloomy city of Ravenhead represents another focus on the reality to which its writing is owed, and indeed the current songwriting is much more captivating than what was achieved a few years ago in the still recent and sci-fi-like “The Final Days”, apart from one or two pieces that are not easy to match.
We don't know if the band will revisit another concept in the future, invent something new or continue along this line, but for now we are satisfied with what we have found here, even if we still have a legitimate doubt, especially given our latest experiences with them: will the good vocalist Seeb be able to sing the new songs live as they are, or will he have to resort to some trick to make less effort?
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM