OCEANO
"Depths"
(Earache; 2009)
Reviewed by Mike SOS
Chicago-bred quintet Oceano stake a claim of being the most pissed-off band on
the planet, and if you could decipher the cavernous musings of vocalist Adam
Warren and what he was screaming and growling about, they may be right, as the
viscous racket adorning cuts like the slow-churned "Disgust for Your Kind" and
the frantic fury of "District of Misery" do work as evidence for a lively
debate. Make no mistake, the vocals (despite hard to comprehend) are a
strongpoint, solidifying this outfit's abrasive viciousness with a twist to
rival peers like Emmure, Misery Signals, and All Shall Perish for the new heavy
crown.
The 13-track debut "Depths" firmly stands its ground with a batch of rote yet bombastic low-end grooves, keeping things both excruciatingly bottom-heavy and brutal, yet resonate with an all too standard delivery within the deathcore paradigm. Luckily, Oceano picks up momentum as the album rolls along, managing to venture a bit off the threadbare path of palm-muted breakdown bliss in key spots to implement nuances such as symphonic black metal texture and crisp solos, yet ultimately fall flat in relying on prototypical old hat genre maneuvers that undoubtedly score big in a moshpit of dayglow shirts and bad haircuts yet yield overwrought results on disc.
For more information, check out http://www.myspace.com/xoceano.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2009 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights
reserved.
Revised:
05 Aug 2024 11:18:33 -0400.
