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Ogre - Plague of the Planet
Written by Srikanth Panaman   
Tuesday, 27 May 2008

You know what? There's just no point saying redundant shit like 'how great the old power trio format is' and 'how ridiculously superior 70s heavy rock is', in the intro to this review. Because, with Ogre, these things have already been established with their first two slabs, Dawn of the Proto-Man and Seven Hells. So if you like 70s influenced heavy rock with an overall doom vibe, these two albums are essentials. Since that is out of the way, there's an immediate need to get on with this exciting new album that I have on my hands here.

Plague of the Planet, their third album and Ogre have certainly taken everything up a few notches. They've tied up a couple of loose arcs from the first two albums and made a full blown concept album featuring only a 37 minute song. This would be among various things, pretentious and over-ambitious, coming from almost anyone else, especially considering it deals with topical issues like war-for-oil and such, involving primitive men and strange robots. But with phenomenal illustrations reeking of old-school comics ('Approved by the Comics Code Authority' is a nice touch) by Will Broadbent (also the drummer) along with great, tightly woven narration (lyrics) by Ed Cunningham (also vocals and bass), the concept has been delivered to us to perfection. I'm not proud of it or anything, but I hardly pay attention to the words, even with my most favourite music, unless it starts to bother me in a good or a bad way; but this stands to be one of the albums that I would always read through while playing it.

The fact remains that the concept, the words and the illustrations exist solely to support the music and we're dealing with a 37 minute motherfucker here. How do you think it fares? I'll tell you how it exactly fucking fares. For the sake of narration, the song is split into eleven parts, each handling a bit of the story and taking things forward, the vocal parts consisting of a verse or two and hence they roughly behave like a song by themselves (without the repeating choruses, fool). Depending on the part of the album you're currently listening to, you'll get things ranging from a late 70s style gallop trip, a few slow proto-doom sections, cool instrumental breaks including this crazy, noisy passage with synths to musically depict the war of doom. Special mention to my personal favourite, the final piece Dawn of the Proto-Man, which begins with clean guitar effects (similar to what's often heard on YOB/Middian) and Ed doing the near-talk and with the band slowly building up to the drawn-out heavy-ass climax.

Guitars are highly layered and the album transcends beyond the raw and dirty in great style, without getting anywhere near the pomp and clean territories. Ross Markintosh's intense riffing with ballsy and rich 70s-rooted lead guitar work often laced with wah, double tracking/harmonies and a rare slide(?) is always interesting to listen to and really drives the album. It's all so dynamic and matches the storyline perfectly. Ed's bass work is good and you hear him more during the instrumental parts, but it's his vocals that completely shine. He's got the high pitched nasal gnarl that he uses to dress his already great vocal lines, and it always gives me goosebumps. It's like Bon Scott singing for Sabbath/Pentagram gone prog rock. Will's drumming is very strong and is a definite part of the band's sound.

Production is very apt and hats off to Japan's Leafhound for backing the band without reservations. Plague of the Planet is completely special (even for kvlt standards of a dozen great albums every month) and is to be experienced as a whole at one sitting. They should put out a live DVD soon including this album in its entirety, because the bonus video footage included here is very awesome.

Year of Release: 2008
Label: Leafhound


 
Discuss (16 posts)
Ogre - Plague of the Planet
May 27 2008 14:07:42
This thread discusses the Content article: Ogre - Plague of the Planet

Haven't heard the first two but this was fucking brilliant. Loved the lyrics and the band play some fantastic old-school rock wrapped up in a very modern sensibility. the vocals were killer too. I was completely blown away by this and more listens should happen.
#4270
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
May 27 2008 14:44:19
The Kirby artwork looks great. Promos of the album itself seem to be impossible to find. Uh...kvltftp?
#4272
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
May 27 2008 14:57:37
Sure...once I get home.
#4273
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
May 27 2008 15:20:48
Smashing album, really! They've evolved from Seven Hells and Dawn of Proto Man, and considering that those 2 were pretty brilliant albums by themselves, that's saying quite a bit. The vocals are absolutely haunting and I LOVE the guitar tone.
#4274
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
May 27 2008 18:34:45
Whoa, love that cover and the description sounds damn interesting. Must try and get a hear of this. Give me the FTP heads-up too.
#4283
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
May 27 2008 20:21:54
The sleeve is fantastic!

Great review da!
#4285
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
May 28 2008 23:06:09
Heard the myspace song 'Drive'. I'm bought. Sri, I'm gonna have to borrow this from you soon.
#4296
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
May 28 2008 23:30:39
Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.
#4297
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
May 29 2008 13:13:55
PowerDog wrote:
Heard the myspace song 'Drive'. I'm bought. Sri, I'm gonna have to borrow this from you soon.

Shuvar thing. Once I'm back in town.
#4306
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
Jun 13 2008 13:57:09
I made the effort to rip my pre-ordered godliness and upload it for you fucks to listen to. The least I expect is a response here. Like it, hate it, let the people who read the review know at least. Jeez.
#4738
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
Jun 18 2008 12:35:07
Arr, sorry bugger - all the albums slated for review are getting priority at the moment. Rest assured, I'm deeply indebted.
#4843
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
Jun 18 2008 13:34:22
How to download this?
#4847
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
Jun 18 2008 14:10:04
Bhalla: I'll email you the details in a bit.
#4852
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
Jun 21 2008 12:35:59
Finally heard this (twice) and it was pretty darn good. Very classic rock influenced, could hear mighty signs of deep purple, early whitesnake and ofcourse sabbath. It's all brilliantly done and the interest never flags over the course of its 37 minutes.
#4928
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
Jun 21 2008 13:20:31
Oh yeah, heard this yesterday for the first time after it blew me away at Olo's. This is terrific stuff and an awesome listen when I'm riding. That last song(section) is insane.
#4929
Re:Ogre - Plague of the Planet
Jun 26 2008 00:13:39
C'est bon! Tres bon!
Je suis contente.
Merde! J'ai Susac's Syndrome!
#5081

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