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Ordog > Position One > Reviews
Ordog - Position One

I'm not sure what this is, but it's wacky - 48%

Duisterling, March 25th, 2009

There are a lot of black metal bands out there that actually started pretty early in the scene, sometimes even way back in the early nineties, but never got any recognition and most of them died after a few unknown releases. Sometimes these were underrated bands with music that was rather good or even qualitative and promising. Ordog is one of those names that never really got anywhere, and their music sure is unconventional, but I’m not saying that as a compliment.

Mid-paced drums and guitars dominate this album, both sounding dull and slower than the actual rhythm they’re playing in. Riffs often sound uninspired and somewhat directionless; predictable sequences of chords across the scale. No daring intervals or unexpected changes, it is even more boring than most conventional off-the-rack melodies. The weird thing is, it sounds all too familiar, but actually, it is a very odd combination of styles, something like ‘blackened heavy metal’. It’s got a lot of elements of the eighties metal and the oldskool black but it isn’t exactly that either. The drum lines are reminiscent of oldskool too, by the way; all the most basic metal drum patterns have been used here, almost exclusively.

The overall production sounds rather ‘old’ too for an album from 2000. The guitars have a very timid distortion and this obviously contributes to their powerless sound. To make things worse, they’re rather soft in the mix and as soon as the drums shift into a higher gear, they render the guitars to a blurry layer of drum support. I like the sound of the bass guitar best, probably. I’m not fond of bassists using picks, but it chugs away pleasantly and there are several moments where it pops through the music with interesting riffs. His sound too reminds me of heavy metal, Steve Harris to be precise. This only leaves the vocals. Once again nothing special, they go from rather weak, useless screams to more powerful black metal screaming that is very decent at times.

On the complete album, so in a little over 38 minutes, there are about 5 or 6 riffs that are actually worthwhile and I guess that Untitled 8 is the track I enjoy most. But, of course, this is not enough to save this album, not by a long shot. All in all this is just uninspired, oldskool black metal in a very weird, unconventional way, but unfortunately for them not in a positive way.