Orden Ogan is a German

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

band with progressive and

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for exampl ...

elements. The band was formed in 1996 by Sebastian Grütling (drums) and Sebastian Levermann (lead vocals and guitar). They currently have three demos and seven studio albums and are signed with AFM Records. They are also the organizers of the German metal festival WinterNachtsTraum, which has featured such bands as Rage,

Sinister Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction " left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see ...

Axxis Axxis is a German heavy metal band that was founded in 1988. Their debut album, ''Kingdom of the Night'', became the best-selling debut album by a hard rock band in Germany in 1989. Biography Axxis' musical roots lie within the traditional h ...

, Ensiferum,

Van Canto Van Canto (sometimes stylized as van Canto) is a German a cappella metal band, founded in 2006 and composed of six singers and a drummer. Although the group is often classified as an a cappella ensemble, they use real drums in their music, inst ...

, and Agathodaimon.

History

Founded in June 1996 as Tanzende Aingewaide, the band was renamed Orden Ogan in 1997. Orden Ogan means "The Order of Fear," Orden being the German word for Order, and Ogan being the Old Celtic word for Fear. They released three

demo tapes A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

: ''Into Oblivion'' (1998), ''Soli Deo Gloria'' (1999), and ''Testimonium A.D.'' (2004). The band considers its history to begin in 2008 with the release of their first studio album, ''Vale,'' which was released via Yonah Records in Germany, and met with acclaim by the European press. The German magazine, Rock Hard Magazine, called the band "the one and only legitimate

Blind Guardian Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in 1984 in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres.Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, Germany's Rock Harz, and the Metal Camp in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. In 2010, Orden Ogan released their second studio album, ''Easton Hope,'' with their current label AFM Records. Following the release, Orden Ogan did their first European tour supporting Tiamat. Following a lineup change in 2011, Orden Ogan returned in 2012 album with their third studio album, ''To The End'', which peaked at #41 on the German charts. The album's first single, ''The Things we Believe in'', has reached over 5.8 million YouTube views as of 2021. In 2013, it was announced that the band would play in the United States for the first time in 2014, participating in the power-progressive music festival, ProgPower USA XV. The band was also included in

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music, rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and su ...

, Made of Metal Festival in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, and went on tour with Rhapsody and Freedom Call. They also toured Europe in January/February 2015 with Hammerfall and Serious Black. In 2014, Orden Ogan frontman, Sebastian "Seeb" Levermann founded Greenman Studio, where he now mixes the audio for Orden Ogan. Greenman Studio has also mixed for the band Rhapsody of Fire. In 2015, Orden Ogan released their fourth studio album, ''Ravenhead,'' which peaked at #16 on the German charts, and #56 on the Swiss charts. Orden Ogan released their fifth studio album, ''Gunmen'' on 7 July 2017. On 19 May 2017, Orden Ogan posted the music video for their fifth album's first single, ''Gunman,'' to YouTube. The band confirmed on 16 October 2019 that they had hired Steven Wussow (ex-

Xandria Xandria is a German symphonic metal band founded by Marco Heubaum in 1994. Originally a project, Heubaum later restarted the project as a band in 1999, and has gone through various lineup changes. The German vocalist Lisa Middelhauve joined fo ...

) as the new bass player. The band's sixth studio album ''Final Days'', was announced on 6 December 2019 and was originally set to be released on 28 August 2020, but was later postponed to 12 March 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The first single off of the album, "In the Dawn of the AI", was released on 24 July 2020 along with a music video. The second single, "Heart of the Android", was released on 4 December 2020. The album was released in March, reaching number 3 on the German charts.

Members

Current members

*Sebastian "Seeb" Levermann – guitars, keyboards, lead vocals (1996–present) *Niels Löffler – bass (2011–2019), guitars (2019–present) *Dirk Meyer-Berhorn – drums (2011–present) *Steven Wussow – bass (2019–present) *Patrick Sperling – guitars (2020–present)

Former members

*Marc Peters – guitar (1998–2000) *Stefan Manarin – guitars (2000–2006) *Verena Melchert – flute (2001–2004) *Christina Decker – keyboards (1996–2000) *Sebastian Severin – bass (1996–2007) *Sebastian "Ghnu" Grütling – drums (1996–2011) *Lars Schneider – bass (2007–2011) *Nils Weise – keyboards (2007–2011) *Tobias Kersting – guitars (2007–2020)

Timeline

Discography

Demos

*''Into Oblivion'' demo (1998) *''Soli Deo Gloria'' demo (1999) *''Testimonium A.D.'' demo (2004)

Studio albums

*''Vale'' (2008) *''Easton Hope'' (2010) *''To the End'' (2012) *''Ravenhead'' (2015) *''The Book of Ogan'' (2016) *''Gunmen'' (2017) *''Final Days'' (2021)

Singles / Music videos

* We Are Pirates! (2010) * The Things We Believe In (2012) * Land of the Dead (2012) * Fever (2014) * Gunman (2017) * Come with Me to the Other Side (2017) * Fields of Sorrow (2017) * In the Dawn of the AI (2020) * Heart of the Android (2020) * Inferno (2021) * It Is Over (2022) * Absolution For Our Final Days (2022) * Inferno (2022) * Interstellar (2022)

References

External links

*
WinterNachtsTraum FestivalMetalholic interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orden Ogan Musical groups established in 1996 German power metal musical groups German progressive metal musical groups German folk metal musical groups German heavy metal musical groups Musical quintets 1996 establishments in Germany