Ok, I have started this article at least five times (first draft was on June 5th!). Five times of writing half (or less) of a review, then not liking what I put, feeling that it doesn't correctly convey the amazingness of Dawn of The Proto-Man. Because I am sick of seeing these articles sitting under my 'draft' tab, I am going to bite the bullet and piece what I have together. It might not make a whole lot of sense, as there are several different thoughts (and writing patterns for some reason) that I am trying to collect into one, but I have to get it done. If there is only one thing you get walking away from this article it needs to be this: Ogre is awesome, and Dawn of The Proto-Man is amazing; I knew from my first listen that this was something special. It's that kind of an album that you know will live on forever - a hard conjecture to make with an underground band, but I stand by it.
The best way I can describe Ogre: a stoner/doom metal band with a singer that blends the vocals of the likes of Bon Scott (AC/DC), Ozzy Osbourne, Udo Dirkschneider (Accept, U.D.O.), and James Hetfield (Metallica), whose main lyricist majored in English literature with a penchant for science fiction. It sounds like an eclectic description (which is is) and it sounds equally like a horrible and an awesome idea, but it's the best description I have, and it works amazingly.
That is the best way I can put it. Even from my first listen I knew that this one was something special. Ogre's debut album, Dawn of The Proto-Man, is an amazing piece of metal music - not just stoner, but metal as a whole - on par with anything Black Sabbath or anyone else ever put out. All of their songs are in some form of narrative, often in a very sci-fi way, filled to the brim with those groove-laden stoner sounds that I love so much. All of the songs on this album are fairly long, with the shortest being a little over five minutes and the longest, "Black Death," clocking in at almost twelve minutes in length. While some might think these long tracks would get boring or repetitive, Ogre keeps them interesting and fresh. All of the songs - and I mean all - have different 'sections' of the song, where either the tempo changes, the instrumental focus shifts, or there is a complete shift in the song style and composition. even though it happens in every song it's a really cool twist, every time. "The Jaded Beast" has an extended outro which is much lighter then the rest of the song; sort of a happy ending to a dreary tale. "Colossus" (my favorite song off the album) has a three minute groove breakdown/jam where the drums sound like they are pulling off a quarter note triplet beat, while the guitars go into a heavy 4/4 thrash riff. For this entire section the songs tempo speeds up drastically, moving from the doomy sound, before and after, into a thrash style; leading the mind to wander to the epic battle between man and machine is actually happening (as per they lyrics).
The rest at
The Klepto's Guide (this one is long)
