There is an old saying that you should never judge a book by its cover (unless said book is the UKIP manifesto in which case feel free to consider it a pile of shite). Equally pertinent is the saying that first impressions count; in the case of the the reissue of Ogre’s back catalogue in the form of special edition CDs of ‘Dawn of the Proto-Man’ and ‘Seven Hells’, first impressions most definitely do count, and very much in their favour! ‘Dawn of the Proto-Man’ comes in a fold out digipack covered in finely rendered sci-fi and fantasy illustrations, whilst inside is a sticker, a comic come fold out poster of the story of the Proto-Man, as well as copious and informative sleeve notes. ‘Seven Hells’ easily matches the sumptuous packaging with a cover that could well illustrate Dante’s journey to the underworld, whilst inside is a fine fold out double sided live photo montage poster of the band at work. If that weren’t enough, tucked away is a bonus DVD of shows from 2006 and 2007. Just handling these fine releases shows a degree of care and appreciation for the fan by both the band and their label, making them fine additions to any collection, and that’s before even playing one note of the music!
For those unfamiliar with the band, they are a three piece stoner doom act from Portland Maine, who just last year bought out ‘The Last Neanderthal’ (see review here: www.avenoctum.com/2014/03/ogre-the-last-neanderthal-minotauro-records/), their first release on Minotauro Records, and these two new CDs are renderings of their first two albums, and their rawness is clearly apparent compared to their last release. Now that’s not a criticism, I love my rock down and dirty, and this power trio deliver a raw power in spades. ‘Dawn of the Proto-Man’ opens with what must be their theme tune ‘Ogre’ a song that could equally be about the band as the mythical creature, the lyrics of primitive power being matched by the sonic bludgeoning that punches from the speakers. The same theme of sci-fi threads through ‘Colossus’; imaging Corrosion of Conformity decided to narrate a fifties space invaders B movie through the medium of music and you’d be in the right sleazy ball park, the music having a bass heavy groove added to their normal doom sound, complete with a mid track freak out that Cream in their heyday would have been proud of. The opening chords of follow up ’78’ had me thinking that Ozzy was going to scream out “Generals gather in their masses”, before Ogre play a swerve ball and launch into a jazzy jam, vocalist/bassist Ed Cunningham channelling his inner Bon Scott with a mischief laden sneer. With follow up ‘Jaded Beast’ the vocals mutate into a Venomous snarl, whilst the instruments themselves journey from the doom laden to the psychedelic. This ability for all three musicians to change their style shows from track to track, ‘Skeletonized’ being some stripped back rock, whilst the likes of of ‘Black Death’ sets sail for a twelve and a half minute voyage on the good ship Doom! Rounding up the album are three early demo versions, rough diamonds awaiting only the simplest of polishes to make them shine.
Follow up album ‘Seven Hells’ shows the band developing in terms of style and musicianship, far more of a 70’s rock vibe coming through in opener ‘Dogmen (Of Planet Earth)’, the pounding rhythm section rightfully refusing to play second fiddle to the swaggering guitar heroics of Ross Markonish. Again, if I had to make comparisons, I’d return to that definitive power trio Cream, but with the sometimes overindulgent jazz musings replaced by Rory Gallagher’s white boy blues. Hell, the opening track deserves a review all of its own, even though at a “mere” eight and a half minutes it is far from the longest track on the album. That title belongs to closer ‘Flesh Feast’, a near fourteen minute leviathan of a track, a doom laden horror story of ocean bound misery, cannibalism, and damnation. The sheer scope of the track allows each musician to fully explore their abilities, the music going from a darkness laden slog to Zeppelinesque flourishes, the drums of Will Broadbent crashing out in true Bonham style. Even the closing five minutes that mix together power chords, feedback, and the sound of an unforgiving ocean and the desperate prayers of the damned do nothing but add to the darkness of the whole.
The bonus DVD captures two sets from Ogre’s local “dive bar” (their words, not mine), Gino’s, and to say they’re not professionally captured is putting it mildly. Each is a single hand held camera recording, albeit with something equipped with a far better mike than the modern smart phone that so many gig goes seem to watch their concerts through these days. As such, the production is minimalistic, but does capture a snapshot of the band blasting away with a heady mix of enthusiasm, energy and ability that has the attending audiences punching the air and chanting away. A professional document it isn’t; a worthy bonus, it is.
I was lucky enough to be sent one of each of the 500 limited edition paper sleeve versions of each of these fine CDs, a privilege in this day and age of downloads and click-able music, and for that I’d like to thank the band and their label. Each is a total package in terms of presentation, and a fine accompaniment to the music they contain, and each would be a fine addition to any collection. Even born again vinyl lovers will appreciate the care that went into these albums. I was only introduced to Ogre in 2014, and am somewhat saddened that I’d not heard them earlier. Check them out folks, you won’t be disappointed.
(8.5/10 Spenny)
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