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ORDEN OGAN
The Order Of Fear
Phoenix Rising Music
https://ordenogan.de

German Power Metal act ORDEN OGAN are back with their seventh studio album The Order Of Fear. As with past albums, their latest is another concept album full of twists and turns that actually crosses over into tales from their previous efforts.

The protagonist of The Order Of Fear is cursed. He is convinced by some unsavory villains that he must sacrifice his close friend to break the curse. Unfortunately for our hero, the sacrifice intensified the curse, and all of humanity is at risk of extinction. To quote Dark Helmet from Spaceballs, "Everybody got that?"

"Kings of The Underworld" blasts your ear drums with rapid-fire double kick drums and multi-part vocal harmonies. It's a battle hymn of sorts that's sure to play out well with a live audience. "The Order Of Fear" (translation of the band's name) is less intense, but just as powerful. This is likely the theme of the antagonist of the story.

"Moon Fire" takes a dark tone, but still punches with ferocious riffs and the mighty vocals of Seeb Levermann. While the lyrical content of "Conquest" deals with the albatross around the neck of our protagonist, the musical composition feels like a victorious drinking song. "Blind Man" has a bit of a commercial radio track feel to it.

"My Own Worst Enemy" is about mankind's internal struggles. The track could be a ballad if the lyrics weren't so tragic. The opening string section of "Anthem To The Darkside" adds depth, but is soon overpowered by heavy drums and driving riffs. This 7+ minute epic shifts in tempo and emotion throughout.

The Order Of Fear is not as cinematic and theatrical as Final Days (2021) was. ORDEN OGAN appears to be more focused on advancing the somewhat confusing story, than diversifying the music.

There are a lot of gang vocal choruses, singalong chant sections, and straight-up by-the-numbers song structures (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, etc). The outcome of Alister Vale's fate is left open ended, so there's sure to be a Part 2.

If you've been focusing on this story from ORDEN OGAN's first album to The Order of Fear, then the repetitiveness of the music may not bother you as much. If you are new to the band, you might want to start at the beginning.

My introduction to ORDEN OGAN was Final Days and I thought it was killer, even not knowing it was part of a larger story being told. However, in comparison to that one other album I've heard, The Order Of Fear feels like a step back.

3.3 Out Of 5.0