Review by Saxy S for ...And Oceans - The Regeneration Itinerary (2025)

As I grow older, and my catalogue of music listening grows, fewer things surprise me. ...And Oceans surprised me with some great melodic black metal on Cosmic World Mother in 2020, they surprised me again in 2023 when the album As in Gardens, So in Tombs flew entirely under my radar, and in 2025, The Regeneration Itinerary made it to my review bench with industrial and cyber metal elements!

Now long time fans might find this less than surprising since the band has dabbled in electronics before on albums such as Cypher. But I wonder just how well the electro-industrial tinges will actually work with a band that is already pretty bloated with symphonic orchestras. And here's the thing: I'm not trying to say that ...And Oceans don't deserve some credit for being ambitious, but sometimes the pendulum swings way too far in the opposite direction. In short, The Regeneration Itinerary is an album trying to redirect everything wrong with Lorna Shore's discography, but it ends up becoming too drastic.

While Lorna Shore litter their albums from top to bottom with every single instrument screaming at you nonstop for over an hour, the main criticism is that albums like Pain Remains have no leveling. Conversely, ...And Oceans have the same problem, but the compression here is drastic. And while it certainly makes for a more enjoyable project than anything Lorna Shore has done, I cannot help but feel like the intensity is missing. The necessity by ...And Oceans to compress this album as much as they did is part of the problem; every part of the record sounds purposeful and given attention. When the electro-industrial parts of "Inertiae" and "The Form and the Formless" come out they are present, but when the guitars and drums re-enter, they sound timid. And that carries even more so into Mathias Lillmåns' vocals. 

I won't call it a bad record. Compositionally, The Regeneration Itinerary is a well constructed release with plenty of variety between the individual tracks. But the way in which it has been mixed and mastered does no favours. It's more pleasant than listening to a Lorna Shore album in 2025, but ...And Oceans are left feeling like they are not playing up to their full potential.

Best Songs: Chromium Lungs, Bronze Optics, Prophetical Mercury Implement, The Ways of Sulphur, The Terminal Filter