The Ogre

Ogre came into being in Portland, Maine, during 1999, when vocalist and bassist Ed Cunningham joined guitarist Ross Markonish and drummer Will Broadbent—each of whom had already logged ten years in the local doom unit Blood Farmers. The newly formed power trio committed four songs to a demo cassette almost immediately, yet moved forward at a measured tempo before issuing their proper debut, Dawn of the Proto-Man, in 2003. That album earned Album of the Year recognition from Peacedogman.com and placed among the year’s five strongest first releases according to Hellridemusic.com, thanks to its progressive-inflected blend of doom and heavy metal. The resulting attention prompted Ogre to align with Japan’s Leafhound Records for the 2006 follow-up Seven Hells and the 2008 release Plague of the Planet, the latter also issued domestically through Shadow Kingdom. After completing the three thematically linked albums that formed their musical trilogy, the members concluded that broader commercial traction would likely remain beyond reach and therefore disbanded in 2009, ending a ten-year run.