Orden Ogan – To The End

Orden Ogan released their fourth full-length album a few months ago, titled To The End. The version to be reviewed here is the LTD Digipak which included two bonus tracks and a DVD – the latter shall be omitted, though it comprised The Things We Believe In video, its "behind the scenes" and Wacken 2010 live show.

In spite of the positive first impression (which began with the first single releases), the album turned out to be difficult to get a good grasp of. It sounds like Orden Ogan immediately, but it had to be played through several times in order to fully get into each individual song.

The album begins with an instrumental track The Frozen Few, which has some nice and simple guitars with a growing orchestral feeling, something which sounds very peculiar to Ogan. The opening leads to the title track To The End, which is catchy enough to be placed at the beginning, to introduce those choirs which are very typical of Orden Ogan.

Most songs on the album are strong power metal pieces, with some pleasant and occasionally fast guitars and—as already stated—some pompous choirs. Such vocals have been included in every track on the album, more—like in Till The Stars Cry Out with several different repeated sections with choirs—or less, like in the first ballad The Ice Kings, in which the chorus parts are relatively peaceful, less bombastic, with a nice and slightly swinging melody. Orden Ogan's habit to use choirs to such extent may be a bit debatable – on one hand it is like a trademark, sort of a vocal way of adding "power" to "metal", yet on the other hand it may become a burden as well, making one wonder what else could have been used to produce such powerful songs. Fortunately, the choirs have been used in varying ways, like at the very end of The Ice Kings, or in Dying Paradise, where they only repeat the name of the song every now and then.

The regular edition ends with the other ballad, Take This Light, which is very beautiful and comprises piano melodies recorded at the cathedral of Wildeshausen. On the limited edition, this song is followed by the bonus tracks, an original Ogan track Masks and a cover version of The Battle of Waterloo (originally by Running Wild). These are actually some of the most interesting tracks, and personally I would certainly have included Masks in the regular edition. The cover song is a respectful gesture towards Running Wild, carried out in the familiar Ogan way.

Even though the album consists of creative and strong tracks with variable sections, it still hasn't hit the goal of being nearly perfect. On one hand the album is very solid, consistent and harmonious, and on the other hand the tracks do, in spite of their versatility, sound rather similar to each other. Yet that is their style, something that defines Orden Ogan, but it would be refreshing to get to hear something slightly different, something to prove they are not confined to the elements which all the tracks share, maybe only one exceptional song to break the habit. Ogan's song melodies are interesting in their own right, but the decorations are usually the same. Perhaps an acoustic folk version of Mystic Symphony?

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Orden Ogan: Masks

Orden Ogan are at it again with a brand new music video titled Masks, which is actually a bonus track on the limited edition of the latest album To the End. We also have a review of the album lined up and it should hopefully be coming sometime in not too distant future! Suffice it to say if you are a fan of German power metal, To the End is one of the better releases in the genre this year.

As usual per Orden Ogan's style, effort has been put into the visuals and the theme, and once again it's not your traditional "we are a metal band playing metal music in an abandoned metal factory" (hi Spinefarm) video.

Like the song title, Masks, the video is also based on a story revolving around the mask concept: A theater actress discovers a mask and puts it on, after which creepy things start happening and insanity ensues. Towards the end of the video things get really anxious in a horror flick like way. The video actually reminds me of the movie Black Swan in some ways.

Personally I do wonder why the track has been listed as a bonus track, as it really is good enough to be on the regular album. Enough of my babble however, enjoy the song and video!

Heavy Metal Perse – Aikakirjat

The strange Finnish power and heavy metal band Heavy Metal Perse released their second full-length album Aikakirjat on November 16th. The reason why I'm dubbing the band as strange is the remarkable difference between my personal views on them: considering the prejudices I had, the first impression I got when hearing their first album for the first time was particularly positive – and positively surprised. Thus, yours truly was quite excited about the new album which saw the light of the day almost five years after the first one.

Heavy Metal Perse's songs are generally very melodic, which is certainly a good thing. If that is what the listener is looking forward to, the first nine seconds of the first track, Paha Paavo, might make one's heart skip a few beats. What is this, thrash metal? Have no fear, after the initial shock it turns out to be the same familiar HMP. Paha Paavo is a very catchy song, with particularly hilarious lyrics, and its theme bears some resemblance to their older song Pahaksi Parkittu Lalli. It's an energetic way to open an album, a good choice despite the first seconds.

Although Heavy Metal Perse stands out from its peers in many ways, one of the most remarkable feature is their lyrics. The songs on the new album have just as brilliant lyrics as their older ones do. They can barely be overly praised; it is just a pity that the non-Finnish-speaking audience cannot understand the ingenious choices of words. Most of the praise goes to the main lyricist and drummer Heikki Romppainen, who has said – contrary to my initial expectations – that his lyrical themes are not derived from role play games or fantasy books. However, they tell interesting stories, they use the Finnish language in intriguing ways and every now and then they are so good they just make you laugh. But in spite of being occasionally very funny, they are not cheesy or ridiculous. Each track on the new album has strong and refined lyrics and it would be difficult to raise one above the others based on these merits.

And the melodies, well, they are also strong and enjoyable. Honest and melodic heavy metal. Vainolaista vastaan is an interesting track with its few a cappella lines, making it sound like a drinking song in a good way. Hornan koje is attractive because of its strategically placed pauses and a sharp ending to its choruses. And Matias Palm's boyish yet still slightly rough voice fits HMP's songs in such an excellent way and is a pleasure to listen to.

The last three tracks of the album are Viimeisen sillan taistelu, Vanhus ja meri and Vesikeuhko. The very last one is a cover version of Jethro Tull's song Aqualung, and it's quite a weird track on a Heavy Metal Perse album. Well, perhaps it is in the right place being the last track as it seems a bit separate from the rest of the material. In a way it sounds quite true to the original song, in a way it does sound a bit like HMP... But perhaps not enough. Personally, I'm picky – of course the translation is something already, but I find cover songs more interesting if they differ a lot from the original. And even though the song is not actually bad, it is something yours truly doesn't feel like listening when in need of some heavy metal. And when it comes to the last two original HMP tracks, I think they could have been swapped over: even though Vanhus ja meri is a nice, peaceful track, it does make the album fade towards its end, especially since followed by something as dragging as Vesikeuhko. Viimeisen sillan taistelu, on the other hand, is yet another catchy track, a genuine HMP song, and it would have been a good way to end the album with a bang rather than quietly sneaking away. Besides, the name of the song translates to "the battle of the last bridge".

Despite the slightly fading ending, Aikakirjat is a very good and strong album – at least as good as the previous one. One could expect bands to always exceed the expectations set by the previous release, though it does not happen too often. Heavy Metal Perse has at least lived up to those expectations, not leaving me disappointed. Keep up the good work, guys!

You can listen to the album on Spotify. See also HMP's Myspace and their website www.heavymetalperse.com

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