Orden Ogan
26 October 2012
MG: Hi Seeb, how are you?
Seeb: I'm fine thanks, we are here in London for press days! I am guitar player in Orden Ogan, German Melodic Metal Band.
MG: Meaning of the bands name?
Seeb: There is a lot of different stories in each interview regarding the name, but our record company and management were like you are going to have to stop fucking around and tell them what it really means so people can identify with the band. So here comes the boring bit. Orden in German means Order and Ogan is a old Celtic word for fear. So basically it means Order of Fear.
MG: The new album is a powerful, dynamic album how much of a progression is it from 'Easton Hope'?
Seeb: I think it's a big step forward for the band and it's progressed a lot and in a different direction. I would say we have lost weight. 'To The End' is far harder and faster than 'Easton Hope' and everything we had done before. This time also like, I wanted have to have songs with six parts, rather than twenty to twenty six parts, and when I am doing demos for songs, I am always writing the melodies on the guitar. So we have in the past taken a lot of these melodies and threw them aboard and orchestrated them with the flutes and violins. On each Orden Ogan record we had perhaps like fifty tracks per song you know.. This time it was like we are a Heavy Metal band and we can sound like a fucking Metal band. So now the guitar can stand on its own without all the extras, so the songs are more compact and more focused on being a real song and a lot less of this orchestration stuff.
MG: Would you say 'To The End' has evolved into the sound Orden Ogan have been working towards since you started out?
Seeb: We re-recorded one of the songs that was released in 2004 on a independent e.p there was a song on it called "Angels War" and a even older one from 1994 called " Mystic Symphony" both tracks we play live and had been for quite a while and people were asking where they could get a copy, which was available on a very early demo tape, so I am glad a few people had a copy of this tape with "Mystic Symphony " on so it was just logical to include it on the new album and I think they fit really well into the rest of the record. So its some what back to the routes we never had.
MG: Any personal favourite tracks on 'To The End'?
Seeb: No none really. I really don't want to sound arrogant but you know, but I would just say pick a random one! I really feel that all of the songs have turned out to be really strong and I am happy with all of the songs on the album.
MG: What's the story behind the album art work?
Seeb: He's a concept , his name is Alistair Vale who has been on the other album covers and basically he's an immortal guy who is cursed and he has to move on and on and roam the earth for ever more. The problem is what ever he leaves decays and dies behind him and is maybe a post apocalyptic scenario. But you know I have been through a pretty crappy time in the last two years in my personal life and I think that's why the new record is heavier and more aggressive, but on the other hand I also think it was a good metaphorical concept for the album and made it a bit more dark sounding. So the post apocalyptic scenario might be pretty good.
MG: I know you are a death metal fan, can we expect any growls on a Orden Ogan album in the future?
Seeb: No, Orden Ogan is purely a Melodic metal band, but there is a project planned, although I can't say too much about that at the moment though.
MG: Tour plans?
Seeb: We hit the Europe in November with Rhapsody and Freedom Call, and we have one show coming up in London. We were in the UK in 2010 with Tiamat on tour which didn't go that well, but saying that we were at I think the Underworld in London and a lot of people had really tuned up just to see us. A lot of conversations went along the lines that they had never heard of Tiamat and were there to see us. I really think the UK is a great market for us and I am really looking forward to playing here. And we will be on a headline tour if everything works out and should be back in March 2013.
MG: You have played some big festivals, which one sticks out the most for you?
Seeb: I think Wacken 2010 we had five cameras and we were on a smaller stage. We played a Saturday evening about 10 pm. We didn't know what to expect. We knew the album had been successful in Germany, they said there was space for 10,000 people, it was absolutely packed.
MG: What music influenced you growing up?
Seeb: Gamma Ray, but their earlier work. I somewhat lost track and started listening to harder and harder stuff.
MG: Anything you would like to say to your fans and our readers?
Seeb: People that buy CD's supporting "The Metal Life!" basically, we would not be able to do this, so yeah ... Thank you!
Interview by: Seb Di Gatto