Album Review: Orden Ogan – The Order Of Fear (Reigning Phoenix Music)

Needing no introduction, power metal leaders, Orden Ogan, are back with their 7th studio album, The Order of Fear, set for release on the 5th of July via Reigning Phoenix Music.

Orden Ogan is a standout in the power metal genre and is a crucial part of the international metal scene. Since their debut album, Vale, was released in 2008, the band has risen to undisputed greatness. With their previous album Final Days, having climbed to number 3 on the official German album charts, and currently on Spotify, they count close to half a million monthly listeners. That’s some numbers. Numbers many with give an arm to get close to and now they return, to offer up another epic example of power metal, with a darkened tint. The band themselves believe this to potentially be the most direct and heavy music they have released, as stated by Orden Ogan mastermind, Sebastian “Seeb” Levermann, who comments:

 “The album is much more stripped down.  It is to the point, more metallic, direct, and perhaps ‘authentic’. The guitars are more in the foreground, but of course, it didn’t work entirely without orchestral elements”.

The Order of Fear seamlessly fits into the band’s impressive catalog: less progressive than Easton Hope, less poppy than Final Days, and harder than To The End. Whether it tops my personal favourite though, Gunmen, remains to be seen. Despite their years at the top and experience, writing the album was not a straightforward task though, as Seeb explains:

“At the beginning of composing, we were at a dead end. We knew where we wanted to go, but we didn’t really make progress. Then came a truly amazing turn: a hardcore fan from Uruguay caught the band’s attention with his great cover versions of Orden Ogan songs. A phone call later, it was clear that we would compose together”.

With that fans contributions sparking inspiration in the band, the rest wrote itself and the Hollywood style 10 track story of The Order of Fear, with magnificent artwork by Dan Goldsworthy, adorned with numerous references to the previous album covers, was complete.

Order Ogan is Sebastian Levermann on vocals, Niels Löffler and Patrick Sperling on guitars, Dirk Meyer-Berhorn on drums and Steven Wussow on bass.

Long term fans of Orden Ogan may find this next bit easier to follow but, just so you understand a bit of the story and purpose of The Order of Fear, it all actually starts back at the band’s debut album, Vale. An album that told a story of cursed protagonist, Alister Vale. Seeb explains it best:

“The story we told on our previous albums has long since developed a life of its own. It has become a real lore, which has not yet been written down outside the lyrics. Until now: everything started in 2008 with our debut Vale,” recalls the mastermind. “The protagonist of the same name lives in a dark parallel world and is a member of an aristocratic circle that, disguised as a government, does sinister things behind closed doors. Believing he’s doing good, Vale breaks up the circle but is cursed for it and as a consequence must wander. However, everything he leaves behind also perishes. Our album ‘Ravenhead’ from 2015, is about the eponymous monastery where the ancient monks of Orden Ogan reside. Here, Vale seeks answers.”

“Vale hears the ‘call’ of this order,” Seeb continues. “Voices in his head tell him they can free him from his curse. So he sets out on the long journey there with his old companion Abel. The monks tell him that the only way to break the curse is to commit an even more heinous act than the one done to him: he must spill the blood of his one true friend by moonlight. A philosophical question: Does the suffering of many outweigh the suffering of the individual?”

Stylistically, I don’t think you are going to be very surprised listening to Orden Ogan on The Order of Fear. It is very familiar territory across the board. The darker, more direct edge is apparent though, even just in how the album starts. There is no big orchestral intro, Kings of the Underworld kicks straight off with an instant quick riff and fast drum beat. A heavy track by all accounts, but with power metal cleanliness and typically anthemic vocals. It is more direct and to the point but without losing any of the things that make Orden Ogan great. Power, melody, catchiness – it’s all delivered in big quantities.

As The Order of Fear progresses, it becomes more and more familiar really and I don’t know yet if that is a good thing or bad thing. Songs like lead single, The Order of Fear bring a bit more of a stompy rhythm to it, again with a decent chorus and a really cool lyrical flow in the verses. Lead guitars shine constantly, bridging verses and soloing with passion. Moon Fire, another single, on the other hand has a really boring and repetitive chorus with the words Moon Fire repeated across this song to an astonishing extent. A shame, because outside of the chorus sits a dark, moody and fiery track with a really punchy verse and stand out drums and bass foundations.

Conquest and Blind Man pull The Order of Fear back on track though with two punchy tracks that bring heavy and melodic power metal in the best ways. Strong story telling lyrics, great choruses, punchy drums and phenomenal solos. Blind Man in particular has such a cool flow to it – I love the tapping guitars and the drums in the verse are fire. The added menace on the vocals, in both tracks, adds a lot and also helps elevate the chorus by offering a nice contrast in style.

Prince of Sorrow keeps the speed up hitting hard with another forceful track that is definitely direct and darker overall but all wrapped up in a blanket of melody, catchiness and hooks. Dread Lord then ups the darkness further with a really meaty riff and pounding drums that will have your head banging. The melody sits over the top but it still packs a punch. Pace drops away a little to allow the atmosphere to build too but the chorus is diluted and distracting, not really doing justice to the insanely good verses and promising prechorus. It’s not bad – Orden Ogan are rarely bad – it just doesn’t quite hit the level the verses seemed to be promising. The solo definitely does though – it’s one of my favourite solos on The Order of Fear, with loads of harmonising and different phases.

My Worst Enemy is the ballad we all expect to arrive and is a nice track. Melody leads and it is sung nicely with plenty of piano and atmospheric effects. The solo is really strong as well with a nice key change and plenty of backing joining for a big closing chorus. We move into the closing chapters of The Order of Fear now with a couple of mammoth tracks, first up being Anthem to the Darkside and weighing in at over 7 minutes long. It has about as epic a start as you could wish for with a big orchestral passage that the lead guitars blend in with.

Making a charge for the title of best track on the album, we get the very best of Orden Ogan here with verses that are fast and fiery with stunning drums. The chorus drops to the melody and is really infectious and singable and there are layers of backing and orchestras that add real depth. Melodic slow downs give way to mesmerising solos and instrumental passages. Yeah, it’s a banger. Before we hit the 8 and a half minute closer, The Long Darkness, we get a short intermission track called The Journey Thus Far which is mostly spoken narrative form the perspective of Alistair Vale explaining what is actually going on from a story perspective. I can’t help thinking this would have been useful at the start of the album perhaps?

Set up now for the big closer though Orden Ogan deliver the song you want to close out a power metal album. Gentle verses evolve as they go, growing more and more powerful before ending up in a chorus that is bound to have any lover of this genre punching the air in delight. The vocals are immense here, whether with the deeper moodiness of the verse or the soaring power of the chorus, he sounds great. Of course being a longer song, we get a gargantuan solo with many phases and speeds. Those lead guitars stay prominent throughout, even as choirs join in or more choruses come back in and the album feels properly closed, with the story properly told as The Order of Fear fades to silence.

I wondered coming in to this album whether it would be better than Gunmen, as that is the album I think of when I think of the best of Orden Ogan but, for me, it’s not as strong overall as that album. There are songs here on The Order of Fear that could fairly be seen as the very best work of Orden Ogan. Songs like The Long Darkness, Anthem to the Darkside and Blind Man instantly jump to mind. There are also tracks that feel a bit muddled, often packing huge amounts of quality but also moments of diluted confusion. Moon Fire and Dread Lord being two such songs that pack impressive instrumentation and fiery verses followed up by mood killing boredom in their choruses.

So overall, The Order of Fear will go down as yet another quality release from a top band but it’s not perfect. I wonder if the difficulties they confess to, with finding inspiration to actually get the album writing underway has come through to the listener? If it didn’t flow naturally to the band, perhaps that is why there are moments across the album that don’t seem to make perfect sense? Or perhaps we are just so used to the output of this band being at the very top that a slight chink in their armour has shocked me so much. Either way, don’t let my small negatives turn you away from another very good album. The Order of Fear packs a powerful punch still with plenty of heaviness, strong story telling and waves of melodic majesty.

Preorder/presave your copy of The Order of Fear by Orden Ogan at any of the links on this link tree.

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