OSSIAN – Örök Tűz

One of the leading Hungarian Metal bands is Ossian. It is also one of the oldest and best known bands, as it is around for over 22 years with singer and band leader Endre Paksi also being a founding member of Pokolgep, one of the first Metal bands to be known in Hungary. During the two periods of existence from 1986 to 1994 and 1998 to present Ossian recorded no less than 15 studio albums if counted correctly, as this was not an easy task. Why was it so hard, and why did hardly anybody ever hear from Ossian? The answer is simple: They sing in the Hungarian language.

International success is quite limited by this fact, but that does not make the music any less interesting. On the contrary, Ossian remain an insider’s tip worth discovering as musically they meet international standards easily. Their latest release dates back to 2007 already, and on Örök Tűz traditional Heavy Metal dominates. The band has sophisticated their ability to write straight to the point Metal songs, and whenever other bands may run the risk of dragging a song out, Ossian just stops. This album contains 12 tracks and a studio bonus track marked “es felvétel“, whatever that means, and comes in at 49 minutes, which proves the point. While 2005’s A Szabadság Fantomja exhibited Power Metal tendencies, their songs now are down to earth, straight Metal with no frills.

Apart from the typical up-tempo opening track, which is frequently an album highlight in Ossian’s history, almost all other songs are medium paced with an unspectacular rhythm section and two good guitar players who are more craftsmen than virtuosos. But that does by no means result in bad songs, it is just not playful, not Yngwie-ish at all. The songs display various different influences, so does “Eletre-Lalalra” contain some Doomy parts, “Trianon” is Folk influenced and bears legacy to the country of origin of the band when Paksi sings a soulful, melancholic melody, and “Svivvel-Lelekkel” leans towards Melodic Metal. The same is true for the ballad “Egyedül”.

Of course, the most important factor has not been mentioned yet: Endre Paksi’s voice. Raw, deep, agreeable he, who is the main songwriter, manages to balance power and melody quite effectively without being an exceptionally great singer. The use of vocal effects in almost every song is apparent, but does become Paksi’s studio performance well. When it comes to the lyrics not much can be said about it as it is all in Hungarian language and the official band site offers no English section. Maybe some MER listener from Hungary can shed a light on this via the comment function here? The closest comparison to this and the general songwriting would be German Metal like Accept, Squealer, but all without being too “true”, yet with over 20 years of recording history Ossian’s musical legacy so far is quite diverse. This album can definitely be recommended for the open minded Metal fan as Hungarian language is quite unusual – and never try to read the lyrics as words like ‘szepasszonyok’ and ‘nyolcvanhatban’ are bound to break your tongue. A few tracks can be considered fillers like “Szememben A Vilag Vagy” or “Ösztön-Börtön” with its rather unpleasant solo section, and in “Svivvel-Lelekkel” the guitar sounds as if the guitarist wants to send a message through morse code, but many highlights weigh against those songs and make this a very enjoyable album.

Their albums have all been released on Hammer Records, which is Hungary’s leading Metal label. Unfortunately, even the label’s website is all in Hungarian language, and the recommended webshop is, too. MER can hardly give out a reliable source to get a hold of these albums. So to get it you basically have two choices: Rely on your luck and your skills in finding stuff on the net, or request tracks here at MER who has all the good ones right here…