Orden Ogan - Gunmen review

Original review on https://www.wingsofdeath.net/Orden-Ogan-Gunmen

When I say that Orden Ogan is making great progress lately that would be a vast understatement. These Germans are praised as the Second Coming of Blind Guardian, and pretty soon they will go on tour with Rhapsody of Fire as support. This band has rapidly grown from opening band for the bigger boys, to headlining act that has the more-known names in THEIR opening act. I call that a very nice job indeed and they sure deserve it!

Their latest addition, Gunmen, certainly contributes to their success. The first two singles that have been released have already been played to absolute bits at my place!

Opening title-track Gunman is already out there for a while along with the video clip. Their mascot, Allister Vale is portrayed more and more like a zombie with each album, and now shows up in the wild American west, which is also the overall theme for the album.

When it comes to the music, this is Orden Ogan like we know them best. Glorious chorus, 100% sing-a-long quality and delightful riffs and solo’s. It being just their good old simple and successful formula that simply never bores.

Fields of Sorrow is something else! It being their second single, that more sounds like a ballad when it comes to the lyrics, but really isn’t, since this album lack ballads altogether. The lyrics are raw, grabs you by the throat and the bitter undertone in the chorus underlines the story in a genius manner. Feelings of sorrow, revenge and retribution resonate trough the melody, that isn’t that melancholic per se, strangely enough. The verses are not much to write about but the chorus is done very clever. “I’m standing right here where she left…” where the open sentence is being re-enforced by a slight pause in the lyric, that puts extra emphasis of the raw meaning, and the impact of the story caries even more weight. Once the second, bitter chorus joins in, the goosebumps are out of this world!

Forlorn and Forsaken, rather draws its strength from the verses and solo’s, with a whipping, held-back beat, deep riffs and outstanding solo’s. Vampire in Ghost Town gallops along on an enthralling rhythm. I really hope this one hits their live setlist, because this one certainly invites to yell along; “VAMPIRE!” – vampire in ghost town.”

The ever famous  Liv Kristine shines in her guest appearance in Come With me To The Other Side, that starts off treacherously sweet and calm, but soon enough the guitars come banging and this becomes another song that knows how to beat it hard. Still, it could work perfectly as a ballad as well, like what they did before with the albums Vale  and Easton Hope, with the song To New Shores of Sadness.

The Face of Silence is another one of those hymns about some society with a lofty title. Again in the style of older songs like Nobody Leaves and Ravenhead. Proud, but slightly melancholic, they are always part of this or that. “we are…” fill in the blanks.

This song also classifies as a good ole, sing-a-long, with a lovely vocalizing tail.

Ashen Rain is a bit less accessible than the rest, maybe a bit darker, but certainly one of the more genius songs on the album. Not so straight-forward, and ravages along like a stampede.

Wanted Dead or Alive throws in some more bravado in the multiplied glory of Seeb’s vocals, which is a standard trait of every Orden Ogan chorus ever anyway. This one rumbles along on a pleasant cadency and within the blink of an eye it transfers to One Last Chance, that more functions as a bridge to the final stand; Finis Coronat Opus, with it’s over 8 minutes of playing time,  is one of the few ‘’bombs’’ that Orden Ogan made in their career.

Firstly, this is again one that isn’t easily digestible, and needs some more playtime to sink in. The chorus is a bit slower than the verses, and remarkably sung in Latin. Multiple emotions are unveiled, and with that it becomes a nice summary of the album.

The ending of the song is really glorious, where the bit of bittersweet rawness from Fields of Sorrow makes a comeback in a part that repeats again and again in this beautiful chant, and really is the icing on the cake for this whole album.

In my opinion, the best songs can be found in the first half of the album, and after that it becomes an intermittently feast of galloping rhythms, multi-vocal choruses, finger licking riffs.. simply rock-solid metal without any fuss and frills. That last song comes to blast you away at the end, and with that I conclude this album being a very solid one.

Orden Ogan continues to hold on to their signature style, know how to make a party with each song and showcase their unique sound. The ‘’wild west’’ theme slightly pops up here and there, is very subtlety done and merges effortlessly with the style that makes Orden Ogan their own. Just no-nonsense, glorious pounding, fantastic choruses, a  real grand finale… this album is once again everything that we’ve come to expect from Orden Ogan, and even more!