Style: progressive-ish black metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Enslaved, Dissection, FromSofware-themed metal
Country: Ohio, United States
Release date: 21 July 2024
Video games are in a bit of a dire state right now. I’m aware this is a music blog, but I rarely get to air my feelings out about these kinds of things to anyone who’s not my unwilling girlfriend or my even-less-willing regular friends. In the world of half-finished, open-world action games with tacked on RPG and crafting mechanics, Elden Ring stands supreme. FromSoftware has under-promised and over-delivered on just about every possible front, and with the expansion (which may as well be a second game) just on the horizon, I figure it would be topical to review a band who are as in love with FromSoft’s masterpiece as I am.
Ogasawara is the one-man project of audio engineer Luke Sackenheim, best known for working on Valdrin’s last two albums. And like the fellow Cinnci black metal dorks, Ogasawara don’t stray that far from that core sound. All the bells, whistles, and synthesized orchestras of high-fantasy flavored black metal are here with a darkly beautiful twist. This album follows the storyline of Ranni the Witch, a major character within the world of Elden Ring, starting with her quest to steal the rune of ‘Destined Death’.
The opener is where Ogasawara gets to show off their sound, a mix of old school Dissection melodies and the occasional prog-isms of acoustic breaks and synths. ‘Empyrean Flesh’ floats along with a haunting piano line befitting of Ranni’s majesty, and ‘Stagnant Constellations’ ups the tempo just to make sure you weren’t resting at a Site of Grace for too long. At an incredibly lean thirty-five minutes, there is little room for fat or filler on The Age of Stars, yet I can’t help but wish it were a bit longer to convey the epic scale of Ranni’s in-game questline.
Don’t get me wrong, what Ogasawara does here is incredibly well done, and it all leads into the explosive, nine-minute title track at The Age of Stars’ end. But I found myself replaying the first two and last song more than anything else. Some uniqueness gets lost on ‘Stagnent’ and ‘Follow the River’ that sees Ogasawara devolve into a standard meloblack band, which he so clearly has the capacity to avoid. ‘Empyrean Flesh’ is especially masterfully composed, with a riff that harkens back to Dissection’s ‘Where Dead Angels Lie’, a perfect homage for our subject matter.
That being said, these are minor weak points. Ogasawara fall into a few of the one-man band pitfalls, such as similar sounding songs and some less than inventive drumming. But for a debut, its exceptionally well crafted. Sackenheim really shows off his audio engineering talent here, as from a production standpoint, the album sounds incredible. The guitar tone combines just enough black metal rawness with polish, and the mix is incredibly clear. I would’ve preferred a louder bass, but I know that’s asking for a lot in black metal.
That’s truly the worst I can say about Ogasawara: it’s a creative and incredibly enjoyable debut, but its short runtime and lackluster song or two hold it back from being something truly amazing. There’s some expert black metal riff-writing here, enough to cut through all the other standard fantasy-themed meloblack bands, and just a pinch of prog to keep things exciting. Even if you aren’t an Elden Ring superfan like I am, I believe this is enjoyable for those who like black metal in general; however, if you’re going to be up all weekend playing Shadow of the Erdtree, make this your soundtrack.
Recommended tracks: Destined Death, Empyrean Flesh, The Age of Stars
You may also like: Valdrin
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Metal-Archives page
Label: Indepedent
Ogasawara is:
– Luke Sackenheim (everything)
0 Comments