OCEANS OF SLUMBER — Winter (review)

OCEANS OF SLUMBER — Winter album cover Album · 2016 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Nightfly
Winter is the second album from Texan prog metal band Oceans Of Slumber. A new band to me – I haven’t heard Aetherial their 2013 debut so have no benchmark to compare this too. What I can say though is I’m hooked on this so a bit of backtracking is imminent.

The title track kicks things off and is a bit of a slow burner. From the off I’m captivated by the haunting melody sung by Cammie Gilbert over melancholic guitar arpeggios. It’s a few minutes into the song before things get heavier and some growl style vocals trade lines with Gilbert. A tad unnecessary when you have such a great singer in the band and while they don’t detract they don’t add anything either. Gilbert certainly makes the band stand out from the crowd. A very soulful performer and not the kind of vocalist you’d expect to find singing prog metal but all the more refreshing for it. Oceans of Slumber clearly aren’t prepared to stick to purely being a prog metal band as demonstrated on “Devout” which incorporates death metal riffs and black metal style tremolo picking but like “Winter” has plenty of dynamics.

The Moody Blues “ Nights In White Satin” seems a bizarre choice for a band like this to cover. It even incorporates blast beats! I always thought the original was a bit wimpy and a bit more balls is added here and works better than expected though not an album highlight by any stretch. The album has a number of short mood pieces the first being the vocal driven “Lullaby”. Sweetly sung it’s another sign that OOS refuse to be pigeon-holed. “Suffer The Last Bridge” (strange title) really kicks ass with a strong melody and is very welcome being surrounded by some of their more reflective moments.

The music on “Winter” whilst not always complex is nevertheless a captivating listen, with more emphasis on creating tension and mood with strong melodies it works well. That’s not to say these guys are musical slouches – they clearly aren’t with some fine playing throughout. If proof is needed check out “Apologue” proving they can run with the best of them and is the heaviest and most ferocious track here. Looking at the album as a whole the cleaner guitar parts work well against the heavier elements and they benefit from having keyboards as well as a dual guitar line up. The real beauty of this record is on the first couple of listens you’re wondering where they might go next.

Winter is a fantastic album that down to the variety on offer will have me coming back to it often in the future. Its strength lies in the light and shade used against the heavier parts but those liking their prog metal heavier may find there’s just a few too many lighter moments here causing it to lose momentum at times. It’ll be interesting to see where this band goes next.
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