Orden Ogan - To The End

Published November 26 2012

*=Staff's pick	The Frozen Few* To The End* The Things We Believe In Land Of The Dead* The Ice Kings Till The Stars Cry Out This World Of Ice Dying Paradise* Mystic Symphony Angels War Take This Light

Genre	Power Metal	Seeb Levermann	Vocals
Tracks	11	Seeb Levermann	Guitar
Running time	55 Min.	Tobin Kersting	Guitar
Label	AFM Records	Niels Löffler	Bass
Release	26 October 2012	Dirk Mever-Berhorn	Drums
Country	Germany	-	Keyboard
Producer	Seeb Levermann
Similar artists	Blind Guardian, Mob Rules

Third album from German power metal quartet Orden Ogan. They play melodic, epic and speedy power metal. It's catchy with heavy riffs, a fast drumplay, massive quires and most important, To The End has strong songs throughout most of the album. Even if the songs are within the same concept, a distinct diversity is present.

The intro, The Frozen Few, is similar to what pirate metallers Running Wild created in the past and forms a positive atmosphere and I feel instant excitement. The six minute thunderous monster and title track To The End and the first single off the album, The Things We Believe In with its epic and catchy chorus, raise the flag immediately. Land Of The Dead is fast and totally crushes with its kind of Blind Guardian meets DragonForce sound.

With the ballad, The Ice Kings, things slow down and to be honest, ballads like this one apparently aren't what this band will build any potential future success on. It fills it purpose as a breather though, before they launch another triple of songs who rule. Fast track Till The Stars Cry Out, heavy and partially epic This World Of Ice and speedy Dying Paradise takes us back to what Orden Ogan do best. Yet again strong songs within their margins and the more I listen to these songs, the better they become.

Fast track Mystic Symphony and heavier and darker Angels War have been part of Orden Ogan's live sets for a long time and by massive demand from their fans, the band eventually decided to now record and officially release them. Both indeed great songs. The last song, Take This Light, is a rather neat ballad, way better than the first one and could probably do somewhat well in a live set.

This is by far the best power metal album I've heard in a long time. I bow myself before their razor-sharp precision to create fast, epic, heavy and yet catchy songs that bury themselves deep within my body. 9 chalices isn't something that is reached too easily. I truly love To The End and I think that this is one of 2012's best metal achievements.

See also review of: Gunmen , Ravenhead , Testimonium A.D.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	6	8	7	9

Summary
9 chalices of 10 - Tobbe