Hailing from Chicago, Oceanborn has released their full length debut September 2013. The album was predominantly recorded in Chicago at the band’s studio with drums being tracked by Chris King with Eyal Levi at Audiohammer Studios (Trivium, The Contortionist, Black Dahlia Murder, Daath, & more) in Sanford, FL. It was mixed by metal juggernaut Eyal Levi and mastered by Alan Douches of West West Side Music in New Windsor, NY.
“It was our initial goal to make a record that represented our influences, maintained a modern heavy metal sound and incorporated Lance’s unique vocal style. I believe we definitely accomplished that and more!” – Dominick Camillo (guitarist, producer)
As part of a promotional campaign for the album release, the band has released an exclusive online graphic novel on their website (www.oceanbornmusic.com/web-comic/) that loosely follows the story behind the music and gives fans a chance to preview the music.
Oceanborn was formed by Christopher Lee and Dominick Camillo in 2010. Shorty after the writing began, Lance Ferrell joined as the lyricist and vocalist. After putting the band fully together and playing a number of shows in the midwestern US, the band released a self produced three song EP entitled, “The Descent EP” online in March of 2012 under the name Tattoo the Devil. After much debate and a couple of member changes, the band decided to change the name before releasing a significant amount of content. The current members of Oceanborn are: Lance Ferrell, Dominick Camillo, Christopher Lee, Mario Camillo and Charlie Williams.
If you mixed the sound arrangements of metal band Evergrey with the vocal intonations of electronic rockers The Muse, you’d have a fair idea of what to expect when listening to Oceanborn’s eleven-track, full length debut, “Hidden From The World”.
Coming in at just 57 seconds short of an hour, I honestly had chills listening to the opening track, “Silence.” It’s that powerfully charged and melodic! With the perfect merge of symphonic melody and blistering guitar hooks, Oceanborn take prog metal to a whole new level. Another great piece is the stellar slow burner, “Still With You.” These first two songs alone are worth the price of the album.
It’s almost as if the band sat down and analyzed the entire metal genre and it’s sub-genres to discover the formula for every great song they’ve ever heard and infused it into every song they wrote for this album, and then one-upped them with an epic tone and some of the catchiest power hooks and melodic vocals they could muster. This album will undoubtedly easily stand the test of time as one of the greatest debut albums from a relatively new band. I’d rank it as far and away, one of the best rock albums that’s been released so far this year!
Oceanborn have a distinctive flare to their sound that clicks here and brings it to a new level of perfection in epic proportions. They’ve also added superb progressive elements to some of the songs. This is especially evident on “The Descent,” where the guitar work, musical arrangements, tempo and timbre changes are of a premium caliber. Other album highlights include the incredibly energetic “Lead Astray”, very reminiscent of classic powerhouse YES, and the atmospheric ballad “In Shadows,” but it’s difficult to pick favorites as this is one of the few metal albums that I found extremely listenable from start to finish. They also include some interesting short interludes between songs, which add a brilliant and refreshing touch. The atmospherically charged “Reprise,” heavily incorporates symphonic elements that perfectly complement the amazingly heart-wrenching vocals on this track.
The album continues on a conceptual story-line that you can follow in a web comic on the band’s website. They pull it off with a melodic and epic style that I have yet to hear any other band accomplish without starting to sound like a movie soundtrack.
As stated previously, “Hidden From The World” is easily the most amazing metal-rock album from a newcomer to have been released to date, this year. The musical talent and instrumental dexterity of Oceanborn make them an absolute must-have band that will appeal to fans of epic power metal and progressive metal fans alike.
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