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It’s hard not to smirk at the irony of the mere existence of symphonic black metal. Taking the serious and deliberately uncompromising attitude from black metal and fusing it with larger than life orchestration should by all accounts create something that could never work together. Of course this sub-genre has birthed some all time classics and has proven its place among the many strands of metal. …AND OCEANS have been releasing music almost since the beginning of symphonic metal’s rise in popularity.
With much experimentation with their sound since the debut, …AND OCEANS’ The Regeneration Itinerary is an album that clearly attempts to incorporate every style and idea that has appeared throughout the band’s history and as a result have created one of the most spellbinding and mentally invigorating albums symphonic black metal has seen in quite some time.
A great album should open with a solid statement of intent for the music to follow. Inertiae seamlessly moves between blackened death metal guitars and gutturals and more open and tribalistic passages akin to ROTTING CHRIST however it is the sci-fi inspired synth forming the bedrock of the music that gives the band their unique edge. A track full of epic moments and the album has only just started. Throughout the lofty scope that gives the album it’s intense weight, any listener who also just wants to lose themselves in some reliable black metal will also be at home with second track Förnyelse i Tre Akter with its evil tremolo guitar and vocals very reminiscent of early BEHEMOTH.
…AND OCEANS clearly demonstrate that they are able to bring the pure black metal that everyone would recognise and do it to a very high standard. However this music yearns to push those conventions of the genre further with its implementation of synth and what the band call “trance-dance.” This weaving of sounds is demonstrated right at the beginning of Chromium Lungs, Bronze Optics. Starting initially as one would expect with double kick, strong chords and satanic screams there is then the subtle introduction of some electronic drum beats rumbling in the background, before the music opens up to spacious guitar playing which moves amongst eerie synth giving the track scope you expect from a film score.
Similarly The Form and the Formless is one of the more radical bits of experimentation on the album when the grand orchestration gives way suddenly to a techno dance beat before launching back into epic black metal. It’s two styles that should by all accounts never work together but the transitions are seamless and purposeful so it never feels like a gimmick. This reaches its peak on The Ways of Sulphur when the pace of the music is ramped up slightly. It allows it to have an almost dance-like rhythm to it when the guitars and electronic sounds come charging in for the track’s final chorus.
As a good album should open with a statement of intent, a great album should close with a bang. The Terminal Filter is the most epic track on the album. The tecno elements back off and the grand emotional orchestratoin takes over adding weight to intense tremolo and pained harsh vocals creating that juggle between light and darkness that symphonic black metal can achieve better than any other genre of metal.
Many bands use the word ‘experimental’ when releasing new music. It can be rare to find a new album that does live up to that descriptor. …AND OCEANS’ The Regeneration Itinerary is experimental throughout. While at a cursory glance would suggest this is typical symphonic black metal performed to a high standard, when looked at more closely this album is full of musical ideas that rarely get used in this genre of metal. The synth element is not overblown or used to prop up an otherwise decent album, it is used sparingly and with intent to compliment top quality black metal. The Regeneration Itinerary is epic, original and heavy in every sense of the word.
Rating: 9/10
The Regenerative Itinerary is set for release on May 23rd via Season Of Mist.
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The post ALBUM REVIEW: The Regeneration Itineary – …And Oceans appeared first on Distorted Sound Magazine.
