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REVIEW: Orden Ogan – Final Days

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags afm records, final days, in cooperation with, orden ogan on March 10, 2021 by Sara Hammerzmith

Three years has passed since ”Gunmen” saw the day. Set in a wild west dystopic setting it is Orden Ogan’s most successful album to date, and the anticipation for the next one has been huge. I can only speak for myself, but as they announced the ”Final Days” and the concept of a dystopic space setting I got even more excited. From swamps to wild west to space and artificial intelligence – let’s do this.

The album starts out pretty straight on – with what seems to be a bit lighter than what we’re used to with the boys, but in no way bad. Already here you can tell arrangement wise of the new concept with the addition of technological filters over the voice.

It is however, the second song of the album that first caught my attention. Starting off in the same vein as the opener just out of nowhere it escalated from zero to hero and even I found myself going ”whoa” as it approaches more that we know from ”F.E.V.E.R” and ”Gunman”. And that is the recipe for awesome, if you ask me.

The album seems to be a constant swinger of the moods – after heaviness comes the softness in ”Inferno” which is quite different from what we are used to with the boys, but a nice little different setting, and then back to what we are used to in their single ”Let the Fire Rain” is QUITE the throwback to ”Gunman”.

”Interstellar” is the first song to really catch my attention. Featuring a cameo by Gus G I found myself with a big smile on my face from the playful melodies and the catchiness. It got something, you know? For the next song we see another cameo – this time by no one other than Ylva Eriksson from Brothers of Metal. Being a massive Brothers of Metal and specifically Ylva fan I was leaping around in circles when the collaboration was announced and I was not disappointed!

It’s a low key beautiful and sentimental ballad called ”Alone in the Dark”, fitting of the theme of fighting artificial intelligence and survival without each other. The way Ylva’s voice compliment Seeb’s is just magical.

After this little melancholic but beautiful break we are thrown into a series of heavy, very typical Orden Ogan songs making me think of the final showdown as far as timing goes. Starting off with ”Black Hole” and then thrown into ”Absolution for our Final Days” and ”Hollow” before wrapping up with ”It Is Over” which holds a more sentimental tone.

Over all, it’s a pretty decent album. What really sticks out for me is the details – addition of effects to the voice to make it more computerized as well as songs in general more ”popesque” but not in a ”We are abandoning metal” kind of way but to fit the theme itself. While it has some refreshing and new moments, you can still find the typical and core of Orden Ogan as well making it a pretty balanced album although I don’t find anything particularly new. Perhaps in ”Interstellar”, but that is about it. I am excited to see what they’ll do with the tour, once that is a thing again.

// Sara

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Powerwolf @ Trix, Antwerpen, Belgium 1/11 – 15

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags antwerpen, civil war, orden ogan, powerwolf, trix, wolfsnäschte on November 1, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith

The D-Day was here, to see the mighty wolves. Would you believe – it’s actually the very first time I’d see Powerwolf on their own headlining tour. I’ve seen them twice before; once at Sweden Rock and then on Noch Ein Bier. So I was really, REALLY looking forward to this concert, more than I originally thought.

We started the day off pretty early with band rehearsals for Antoine. It sounded really good, that’s all I can say. After this, we picked up on the good old gasstation food and got on the road to Antwerpen.

We arrived a couple of minutes before the doors opened and we quickly realized we needed to exchange our E-Tickets for real tickets, so despite being halfway inside, we had to go back out again. Once we actually MADE IT inside, we hit the merchbooth and picked up on each a Powerwolf shirt. We got inside the venue only to discover that despite arriving late and needing to go out and in again, we actually scored pretty decent spots. We stood on the left side of the stage, meaning, Rikard’s if you speak Civil War, Amen’s if you speak Lordi, Clown if you speak Slipknot.

Exactly right on time Civil War went on stage and started off with “USS Monitor”. The band was energetic when they entered the stage, and delivered really good. However. There’s something extra and truly sad about the fact that the band had to tell the light guy to put some lights on them, because they felt like they were playing in the darkness.

And they were right. They had a constant red light on them until Patrik told them to put on some more lights, which improved a bit, not a lot, and you know… when the BANDS has to tell you your light sucks.. man. They should think about getting a new light guy. Because this is just pathetic.

Civil War’s set was about 40 minutes long, consisting of “Saint Patricks Day”, “Braveheart”, “Gods and Generals”, “Bay of Pigs”, “I will Rule the Universe” and wrapping it all up with “Rome is Falling”. The band was really good – especially if you think back to the fact that the tragedy that was Noch Ein Bier was my first encounter with them, this was QUITE the difference. The audience was a bit lame, in all honesty, but I guess it’s to be expected for an opener.

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So, they thanked for the set and left the stage leaving us waiting for Orden Ogan. And right on time, a quarter past 20, they started with “F.E.V.E.R”. Have I ever told you guys how much I love this particular song? They followed up with “Deaf Among the Blind”, and I’m not sure if the audience were just better warmed up or if Orden Ogan had a fanbase, because all of a sudden the crowd awoke.

But then again… the problems with the lights. Seriously. Whoever it was that did the lights that day should get a REAL call out. Seriously. You barely saw the band. What the hell.

They played for 50 minutes, and they truly delivered. I was very happy to see them again, and considering that they made me want to see them again right away kind of proves how good it was. The only thing I miss, was “Ravenhead”. For some reason they aren’t playing this particular one.

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(Photo by Antoine Grignard. This is what poor lightning gives you)

And after this… it was time for Powerwolf. At 21.30 sharp the lights started to find their ways all over the backdrop hanging in front of them, revealing the silhuettes of the band before joining together to enhance the Powerwolf logo, just before it all dropped down.

Flashing lights, heavy drums and “Blessed and Possessed” set off probably one of the more bombastic starts I’ve seen in quite some time. A strong opening was quickly followed up by “Coleus Sanctus”. “Amen and Attack” and “Cardinal Sin” followed, and then one of my personal favorites, “Army of the Night” was played.

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As someone who’s never seen Powerwolf on their own headlining show before, I was kind of… how do I put it… Impressive, I guess? I can’t think of a better word. Like I’ve said many times before, I’m a big fan of any band who has a strong image and concept, the way Powerwolf has. And what makes images and concepts even better is when they live it out on stage – like when Attila talks about how we celebrate the life and death of Christ, when he talks about the metal messes and so on.

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Or when he brings out the necklaces and starts preaching, the usage of the incensory in the last couple of songs, the wine glass for “We Drink Your Blood”… I appreciate things like this. Like, A LOT. I must admit I chuckled a bit when he made us shake our hands and scream in a possessed way. Humor is key, my friends.

They wrapped up the set with “Lupus Dei” before the crew came out and placed strings of fire all over the stage, and later returning (fairly quickly actually) to fire off three encores – “Sanctified by Dynamite”, “Kreuzfeur” and “All We Need is Blood”.

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After this, the wolves thanked for the evening and left the stage. As you probably understood from my previous writings, it was very good. And lights! There were lights! Thank God.

After the show I noticed Daniel on the other side of the venue so I left my company for a quick second to catch up with him and talk about the show. It was a bit hard to leave, since I don’t see him all that often. Eventually I got back to me peeps and we started to slowly head of the arena.

Halfway out, I notice the Civil War people was out and pointed it out to Antoine who wanted to have a picture with each of them. Once he was done with Patrik and Rickard, I leaned in and told them their show was good, but in Swedish. Patrik was like “Thank you so much.. OH WAIT SWEDISH! FINALLY!” Haha. I wound up talking to Rikard a little bit before coming with Antoine to take some pictures with the other members as well as them taking pics.

Before leaving, I figured I’d say good bye to Rikard, when he insisted I stay a bit longer. So said and done, I guess. And this lead up to about an hour of talking about everything and nothing, from Sabaton to Lordi to touring to beer. Eventually they had to leave, and so did we.

It was a really good night, better than I ever expected it to become, in all honesty.

Thank you, Powerwolf, Civil War and Orden Ogan for this night!

// Sara

Seroius Black, Orden Ogan, HammerFall @ Stadthalle, Langen, Germany 4/2 2015

Posted in Concerts, Music, Thiz Izz Djermani, Uncategorized with tags Germany, HammerFall, orden ogan, serious black on February 5, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith

Alright people! Yesterday was the D-Day, and it was fucking amazing I’m telling you! So, once we hit the hotel we started to get ourselves ready for the gig, mentally and physically. After an hour or so (we actually had to go pick up some candy at a store, hello!) we were ready to hit the road. We had planned to be by the venue by 16-17, so yeah, hurry hurry!

Since we didn’t manage to get on the train we planned, we had to take a later one and after running around a little bit in Langen we finally found Stadthalle. And you know, remember what I wrote about Amaranthe when we got to queue INSIDE with a private bar and everything? Like, sure, we didn’t have a private bar, BUT we did get to queue inside! And that was more than enough for us. The queueing system was a little fucked up, but yeah. It’s inside, what more can we ask for. We even spotted a REALLY cute guy, and that doesn’t even happen that often.

But aside that, it was fun as hell. Being with the girls on the road again just makes you SO FUCKING happy. Of course – most of the people around must have thought we were insane given that we were pretty rude to one another, but you know. This is how we roll, so if you ever see us at a gig and catch us almost starting to beat the crap out of each other, that’s good. If we sit in silent, that’s bad. VERY bad.

They opened the doors around seven, and after a few ifs and buts we managed to get to the front row and Paula and Michelle held my place as I dashed to the merchtable to pick up some Serious Black merchandise. Tank top as planned, as well as a patch! Bingo! Ran back to the crowd, which wasn’t even a crowd and eagerly waited for Serious Black.

At around eight sharp, Serious Black entered the stage and opened the show with “Temple of Sun”. To my surprise, we seemed to be the only fans upfront for this band. And what disappointed me SO MUCH is that everyone else, but us, stood completely still. You remember how said in my Amaranthe review that there really is a certain place in hell for people who aim for the front row and doesn’t do shit? Well, they are gonna get some new people down there!

The band however, was really energetic despite bad lame as fuck. They continued on with “Setting Fire to the Earth” before ripping off “High And Low”. Gladly, some people seem to awaken a LITTLE when “H&L” started, but I was still very surprised. I thought they had gained a LITTLE more popularity than this. Appears not.

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Well, I’m gonna have to admit that I was again defeated by my camera this time around, so not a whole lot of good photos sadly. The show went on with “Older and Wiser”, “Sealing My Fate” and wrapping it all up with “I Seek No Other Life”.

This was was REAL good. I really enjoyed it, despite it being very short, but then again, how long can you go with only one album? I was well pleased, and to top it off even better Mario flipped his pick at me! Woho!

Urban said on stage that the band would be by the merchstand so naturally, me and Michelle dashed! The first person we came across was Mario, and this is insane. He asked us what brought us here, all the way from Sweden, and I told him that I was really only at the HammerFall show because of them, and do you know what happened.

Do you fucking know what happened.

He got down on his knees.

And kissed my shoes.

LIKE. WHAT. That’s what I could have done with him. I didn’t even know what the hell to do, I was just standing there like oh my fucking god.

We worked our way around the band, and since Orden Ogan just started, we didn’t manage to Urban THIS while, so we dashed back to front row (how the hell was that even possible?) and rocked it out to Orden Ogan.

The only album I ever heard really and thoroughly with Orden Ogan is “Ravenhead”, so obviously I wasn’t very familiar with them aside the “Ravenhead” songs. BUT – they were REALLY good on stage, REALLY good live. I enjoyed it far more than I usually enjoy bands I’m not too much into.

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After Orden Ogan was done, we dashed back to the merchtable and caught up with Serious Black again, and this once around, we actually got to Urban thanks to Jan. I’m quite shy as you know and I don’t like interrupting other fans, but eventually we got there. At first he asked me, in Swedish, if we should exchange necklaces, but being half deaf as I am, apparently, I had to ask him three times what he said haha. But all was well – and we got to meet&greet him before running back with a LITTLE better time plan to HammerFall than we did for Orden.

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Like, this is something that intrigues me though. How the hell is it possible for us to continually running in and out between the shows, and still make it to the front row? The people didn’t cheer much more for Orden, I might add. I was so surprised, I thought “Well, this is gonna suck” but on the same time I felt like, have we gone this far, and managed to get to the front row, then we sure as hell are going to stand in the front row too.

Pretty much right on time they entered the stage and opened with “Hectors Hymn”. FINALLY – the audience awoke a little, not a lot, but a little. They followed the epic opening up with “Any Means Necessary”. I fucking love this song, do you even know? Like, “No Sacrifice, No Victory” is really my FAVORITE album with HammerFall, and particularly this song is SO FUCKING GOOD it ain’t even funny.

“Renegade” was next song to go, and I’m just. This is like the perfect setlist. Why are the bands treating me so good these days?

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“B.Y.H” was the next song to go, unfortuneatley, the amount of people ACTUALLY banging their heads was close to zero. Like, I expected SHIT TO GO DOWN in Germany, but it appears not?!

After “BYH” it was time for the song Paula had been waiting for all night – “Bloodbound”. Seriously, why are they so good to us? All this amazing songs, we don’t even deserve it! The band was going hard at it too, giving us a damn good time.

“Heeding the Call” was next, and finally we see some fists in the air and some singalong. Damn. Took you long enough.

Something that caught my eye on this particular gig was Stefan. Not that he was there, because that I knew. But how happy he was. Like, he seemed to be so FUCKING HAPPY to be back with the crew. I don’t mean to say he was unhappy before, I know nothing about it, but on the same time, it was just… so good to see you know?

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After “Heeding The Call” it was time for the big ole one – “Let The Hammer Fall”. And here’s the deal people. You know you’ve seen HammerFall live before if you can even talk with Jocke with all he says – “What do you say if I say Let The Hammer?”. I’m not sure how I should deal with that.

A new song was the next “Live Life Loud” before it was time for Stefan to get some spotlight. At first it started with Pontus doing his thing, and all of a sudden he let go of his guitar and it kept playing. Oscar made himself visible, so everyone was like “what?!”, ok, not really, most of us understood it was Stefan.

So he came out, and together with David, Oscar and Pontus on bassguitar they went over quite some HammerFall solos from many familiar songs. LOVED EVERY BIT OF IT.

Right after, the continued on with “Threshold”. “Threshold” hold a bit of a special place in my heart, as it was my first HammerFall album EVER, and my first HammerFall show ever was a the Threshold tour. So yeah, it was kinda mighty to hear it again.

“Last Man Standing” was next to be executed and they soon continued with “Glory To the Brave”. I fucking love it when they play this one live – it’s so mighty in a way, you know? Joacims voice doing all the work in the beginning and then it just.. it’s like “Amarathine”.

Another song off (r)Evolution was next – “We Won’t Back Down” before they wrapped the whole show up with “HammerFall” and left us wanting more.

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They soon returned, of course, and started off with “Templars of Steel”, “Bushido” and then wrapping the whole show up with “Hearts on Fire” (what else). And here’s where the next weird thing happens.

Throughout the show, Stefan has continuely played by me. He’s looked at me, and he’s interacted with me. Almost ALL the time. Afterwards, he locked eyes with me and threw the pick my direction, but someone else took it. So at first, he went onwards to the other side, BUT. He returned, and again locked eyes with me, POINTED at me, and I pointed at myself and was like “me?” and he nodded, and threw the pick at a closer distance and this enabled me to catch it.

Like. This is kinda surreal for me. This has NEVER happened to me before, that bandmembers have LITERALLY locked eyes with and been like “YOU are gonna have it”. Jesus fucking Christ.

After HammerFall was done, we headed back to the merchtable, first in order to pick up “Ravenhead” and have it signed by Orden Ogan and then to catch up a little more with Serious Black before we were removed from the area.

Seriously, I cannot remember a single time where I’ve interacted so much with bands as I did this time. And I’m kind of proud of myself, as I’m usually so bad at this because of my shyness. So yeah, I’m proud and happy. Together with Paulas friend (who is a doll, who kept our spots when we chased after Serious Black) we went back to the trainstation, back to Frankfurt and back to our hotels with one of the most epic experiences in our hearts.

Now we just prepare ourselves for Lordi. Second night – COME AT US.

// Sara

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REVIEW: Orden Ogan – Ravenhead

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags afm records, german, Germany, metal, orden ogan, ravenhead on January 15, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith

People! Orden Ogan is back, three years has passed since their latest release, “To The End” which gained them international success. “More metal, more chorusses, more Orden Ogan” is how vocalist Seeb describes the album and while Seeb is the main contributor to the album, it has had all of the band members involved. Teamwork, if you like.

The album starts off pretty aggressively with the title track, but to my surprise it turned out to be very melodic. I’m going to be honest with you – I was fairly unfamiliar with this band prior to hearing this album, so I excepted it to be a lot heavier than it was. This isn’t anything bad though, as you know, I love power metal more than pretty much anything.

I think the album is pretty good – or perhaps decent. There’s a few tracks that stands out quite a lot for me – the bombastic “F.E.V.E.R” and “Sorrow Is Your Tale” where our ever so loved Joacim Cans happen to guest sing on. Aside them two tracks, I think the album is pretty even. Not bad, not at all, but also… nothing amazing, you know? Nothing new. What I do like a lot with this band, as a band, is the vocals. Seeb has one of the more interesting voice I’ve heard in the genre, which I’d say defines the band a little extra.

Production-wise, however, it’s pretty solid. Mixed by Seeb himself and mastered by Dennis Köhne it’s a polished product that is given to us, the only thing I can remark on would the vocals which I find a tad bit low, but it’s just me.

While this is a good album, it still leaves me wanting just a little bit more, despite it being very promising. It’s like, ALMOST there.

3,5 / 5

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Label: AFM Records