Ogen - Black Metal Unbound

Ogen is comprised of the sole individual known as Hartagga, who does vocals, guitar, and bass on the album while enlisting Mjollnir on the drums, who has had some previous experience in bands like Tragodia. Despite this being Hartagga's seemingly first effort at black metal, he creates a brief, but engaging piece of music that draws on influences like Emperor and even a bit of older Dimmu Borgir. While sounding a bit minimalistic due to the heavy atmosphere, there is actually quite a bit going on when considering tracks like "Black Tusk Retaliation" and "As A Leaden Sun Shineth Upon." Sometimes they are chaotic and violent, making the music tend to overcome the vocals and more melodic bits and other times they chug along at a more even pace and let the vocals shine a bit clearer, and when they do, involve the perfect tone to make the music dark and twisted while not sounding overly chessy. The atmosphere of the music is well set and often very dramatic, like Emperor's work, but without the use of keyboards. More often than not though, what listeners can focus on is the guitar bits which will often break into these heavy solos that are very melodic but also not over the top like in power or thrash metal so the drums can keep up in their semi repetitive nature. Other tracks like "Crest Of The Forgotten" sound more foreboding while not losing any inch of their melodic side as they just burn right along; even the drums seem to pick up some pace. Sadly, in many of these tracks the bass is lost in the mix- but in lots of heavily paced black metal like this it usually happens.

Despite the somewhat oddly titled EP, 'Black Metal Unbound, which would imply that the music here is just chaotic, off the walls, and will rip into the listener and steal its soul, the music here between these five tracks is well contained and organized so it doesn't feel hashed out or repetitive. Sure there may be a recycled section here and there, but otherwise Hartagga and Mjollnir are an excellent team at creating a crisp, cold atmosphere without too much distortion and laying down the tremolo picking fury while adding lots of melody. This a strong beginning for the group that will hopefully unfold into bigger and better things.

  1. Shattered Earth Volcano
  2. Black Tusk Retaliation
  3. Crest Of The Forgotten
  4. As A Leaden Sun Shineth Upon
  5. A Steep Slope To Desolation

Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Jun 11, 2011
Next review: LIK - The Second Wind

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