#orogen

Crumple zone

The Ural Mountains mark one of the traditional boundaries between Europe from Asia, and represent one of the later acts in the long slow assembly of the supercontinent Pangaea. It built itself up from the disparate pieces that had formed the earlier supercontinent Rodinia that disintegrated into its constituent sub plates some half billion years earlier in the last iteration of the supercontinent (aka Wilson) cycle. Their formation was a long and drawn out process; running from around 300 to 200 million years ago as a continent called Kazakhstania collided with Baltica in a series of slow motion violent tectonic events. Laurussia was the result, and, having also collided with Gondwana brought about the very final act of Pangaea's slow birth. Old continental boundaries like these are known as sutures, and they are very deep features, often marking the weak points where the continents will split again should the mantle convection currents below indicate a change of direction. Some mark places where several oceans have been born, lived, and closed again, obvious examples being the Iapetus Ocean which ran along the line running through Scotland, Scandinavia and the Appalachians and lived between 600 and 400 million years ago, which reopened and finally closed some 280 million years ago, opening again to form the current incarnation, known as the Atlantic. Sutures of various ages are preserved around the world, from old boys such as the Urals to brand new kids on the block like Himalayas.

Kazakhstania was pushed under Baltica, like India is below Asia today. Being weaker and more faulted than Baltica, huge chunks of its crust were snapped apart and stacked one atop the other, folding and faulting, birthing a 3500km long mountain range that remain one of the globe's oldest. For such old mountains, they remain high (peaking at 1895 metres with Mount Narodnaya), having avoided the usual collapse that affects mountain ranges as the pressures of continental collision change to extension as the mountains bounce back. Much of the original range is now overlain by younger sediments. Like many such events a metallogenetic pulse accompanied the collision, whereby many interesting and valuable mineral deposits were generated, including many gemstones like emerald, aquamarine and alexandrite. The origin of the name is lost in the mists of history, but the Turkik for stone belt has been suggested.

In Tsarist Russia they marked the boundary of civilisation and a major source of mineral wealth, and many an expelled exile, forcibly transported serf or zek wrote of their despair and bitter tears when taken eastwards towards Siberia through the range in chains. Modern cities such as Perm and Yekaterinburg were originally founded in the early 1700's CE as ore smelting centres in mining areas. They played their part in the Great Strata Scramble of the mid 19th century, when (mostly British) scientists were divvying up geological time using fossils as markers, and the Permian system was mapped in the Urals in 1841 by Roderick Murchison, as close to the Big Cheese of British Geology as one could get.

Loz

Image credit: ESA

Traditional Gothic Doom from Wisconsin?

Yes! It's true. The band is Orogen and quite good. That's Orogen, not Oregon. Oregon is where the Goate is from. Orogen is a traditional doom and heavy metal duo hailing from Madison, Wisconsin. You may have run across them in September, when they released a wonderful 6-track demo demo via Sarlacc Productions. I thoroughly enjoyed that record and now I'm listening to 'As Hammers Seal the Gates' (2015), the new EP that will be releasing as a limited edition cassette through Shadow Kingdom Records on May 19th.

As Hammers Seal the Gates by Orogen

Orogen belongs to the traditional school of doom metal, that has a stately, medieval feel about it. Candlemass, of course, is the go-to comparison, but I'm sure you'll be able to find more fitting parallels with other bands in the genre (the band also lists Orodruin, Pagan Altar, Solstice, Manowar, Ironsword, Manilla Road, and Saint Vitus as inspiration, along with the great horror actors of the 50's, 60's, and 70's. One can almost picture Christopher Lee on vocals in the opening title track. A worthwhile listen, and doubly so if you pair it with their earlier demo!

This is a photo of Chuonnasuan (1927–2000), the last shaman of the Oroqen people, taken by Richard Noll in July 1994 in Manchuria near the Amur River border between the People's Republic of China and Russia (Siberia). Oroqen shamanism is now extinct.

Until the early 1950s the main religion of the nomadic Oroqen was shamanism. In the summer of 1952 cadres of the Chinese communist party coerced the leaders of the Oroqen to give up their "superstitions" and abandon any religious practices. These tribal leaders, Chuonnasuan (Meng Jin Fu) and Zhao Li Ben, were also powerful shamans. The special community ritual to "send away the spirits" and beg them not to return was held over three nights in Baiyinna and in Shibazhan.

The last living shaman of the Oroqen, Chuonnasuan (Meng Jin Fu), died at the age of 73 on 9 October 2000. His life, initiatory illness, and training as a shaman are detailed in a published article, also online available.[1]

Sacrifices to ancestral spirits are still routinely made, and there is a folk psychological belief in animism.

Traditionally the Oroqen have a special veneration for animals, especially the bear and the tiger, which they consider their blood brothers. The tiger is known to them as wutaqi, which means "elderly man", while the bear is amaha, which means "uncle“.

source: wikipedia