Ogre

Ogre were formed in Portland, ME, in 1999 when vocalist/bassist Ed Cunningham joined forces with guitarist Ross Markonish and drummer Will Broadbent -- both of whom had spent the previous decade playing in local doom band Blood Farmers. Yet, after quickly laying down four tracks for a demo cassette, the new power trio proceeded to work at a leisurely pace before delivering its first album proper, Dawn of the Proto-Man, in 2003, which wound up being named Album of the Year by respected website Peacedogman.com and chosen as one of the year's Top Five Debut Albums by Hellridemusic.com. All with good reason, given its prog-infused mix of doom and heavy metal, which eventually generated enough excitement for Ogre to link up with Japan's Leafhound Records for their second full-length, Seven Hells, in 2006, and their third, Plague of the Planet, in 2008 (with American distribution handled by Shadow Kingdom). Unfortunately, having completed this musical trilogy (all three albums were in fact thematically connected) and realized that wider commercial success would probably continue to elude their sort of music, the members of Ogre decided to call it quits in 2009, after ten years of work. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, Rovi