OGRE

Ogre came together in Portland, ME, during 1999 after vocalist and bassist Ed Cunningham teamed with guitarist Ross Markonish and drummer Will Broadbent, each of whom had already logged ten years in the local doom outfit Blood Farmers. The power trio quickly recorded four tracks onto a demo cassette yet moved forward at an unhurried tempo, finally issuing their proper debut album, Dawn of the Proto-Man, in 2003. That record earned Album of the Year honors from Peacedogman.com and landed among Hellridemusic.com’s Top Five Debut Albums of the year, thanks to its prog-infused blend of doom and heavy metal. The resulting attention led Ogre to Japan’s Leafhound Records, which issued the band’s second album, Seven Hells, in 2006, and its third, Plague of the Planet, in 2008, the latter also distributed stateside by Shadow Kingdom. Having completed the three thematically linked records that formed this musical trilogy, the members concluded that broader commercial success would likely remain out of reach for their style of music and therefore disbanded in 2009 after a decade together.