Review by Saxy S for ...And Oceans - Cosmic World Mother (2020)
...And Oceans seem to have really found their groove once again after reuniting. Well that's not entirely true, this band have been together even during the nearly fifteen year gap between disbandment and the release of their newest LP, Cosmic World Mother. Most recently, as a death metal band in 2019 under the name Festerday.
But the black metal tones are back under the the name ...And Oceans and what a fine project we have here. This is the epitome of modern melodic black metal and how to make it sound both feverish, brutal and remarkably catchy.
The first thing that I noticed about this record was the track lengths. Normally song lengths don't bother me (I am a prog snob after all), but I found it strange to see song lengths that barely eclipsed the five minute mark on symphonic/atmospheric black metal album such as this. Most groups use the elongated song structures to create atmosphere and use slow, brooding tempos to really grip my attention. And some groups can do it well (Saor, Fen, Panopticon, etc.), but ...And Oceans use a different compositional form that is unique to me and it makes for some very gorgeous sounding pices.
The sound of this album is ferocious. ...And Oceans uses a ton of very fast tremolo picking guitar melodies to go along with technically demanding percussion work. The vocals are produced very well and are delivered with a ton of precision in the annunciation of the words. Meanwhile, the symphonic elements are incorporated extremely well into the huge black metal sections, rather than feeling like an afterthought and left for the softer interlude sections. I would say that it is the bass that suffers the most from this huge mix, but it never feels compromised and I do appreciate a strong bass line giving these songs forward momentum.
The songwriting is where I have to take off a couple of points from my score, but first, let me gush for a minute. I really enjoy the compositions of these songs. They sound fresh and innovative, the melodies are fluid and memorable and the counter-melodies compliment the lead exceptionally well. ...And Oceans use the shorter song structures as a barrier to make sure that every single track on this album is a complete entity and to allow for the compositional growth to sound completed. And given that the song lengths are relatively shorter, the band has to do all of this in lesser time. The one thing that holds this album back from being a classic is that, while all of the songs are unique in melody, chord structure and concept, they do seem to follow a very similar formula.
But that can prove to be a very small quibble on an album such as this. ...And Oceans return project is an excellent display of pummeling extreme tendencies, complimented with some fantastic melodic songwriting as well. Yes, it is possible to have both!
