OGRE “Rare Earth Metal” steamrolls through smoggy soundscapes, less like an earth metal and more like an alloy

photo credit Ian Enger

Portland OR — The single, “Rare Earth Metal”, is classic OGRE essentialized. It’s blown-out, grating, and chaotic, but packed into a tight arrangement.

The trio steamrolls through punk assaults, exclamatory vocals, roiling basslines, animalistic drums pounded dexterously, smoggy soundscapes, and almost Pixies-esque surf guitar lines (but done on the bass, presumably, by Ace).

Despite its title, the track feels less like an earth metal and more like an alloy: the perfect melding of all three Ogres. Ace brought in the initial musical idea that jump-started the collaboration. “I’m really proud of the riff. I think it’s one of the most technically proficient things we’ve played,” he says. When Ogre first formed, all three members were near-beginners on their instruments. Over the years, they’ve developed a shared musical language and gained some impressive chops.

Nils supplied the lyrics, an abstract exploration of insatiability. “It seems like a song about being addicted to something, but there was no tangible intention there,” he says. While Ace and Grace have defined lyrics, Nils is more impressionistic and improvisatory with his words. “Nils is like the Lil Jon of the band with his ad-lib approach,” Grace quips. She also contributed the dance-y bassline, inspired by a Bollywood film. “Rare Earth Metal” encapsulates Bryan’s (out 5/29) unhinged energy, which Ace credits in part to listening to a lot of black metal and Don Caballero during the writing process.

OGRE’s new single “Rare Earth Metal” will release digitally on CorpoRAT Records on April 23rd, 2026.