Review Summary: Effloresce is an epic debut album by your favorite progressive death indie band, and it plays host to some of their best songs while also showing that they have plenty of room to grow.
Effloresce is Oceansize’s debut full-length album, and is the product of several years of writing, touring, and recording. It is spacey and huge, clocking in at over 70 minutes. While this may seem long, there are only 12 tracks on this album, and most of them are so involving that it is near impossible to get bored while listening to them. The album is split into three sections, each comprised of four songs: 1 instrumental opener of a relatively short length, followed by 3 longer tracks that include vocals (which are still quite sparse on most songs). If you are new to Oceansize, then Everyone into Position might be a better place to start, as it is more accessible. While this album contains some of my favorite songs ever, there are honestly quite bad.
I Am the Morning – The album’s first song starts with some light electronic noise that is heard again at the album’s conclusion. The guitars, bass, and drums start layering on top of one another. This song shows drummer Mark Heron’s complex style of drumming that gives Oceansize a unique sound. I Am the Morning is one of Oceansize’s more post-rock songs, with layers of sounds building up, rather than using spastic changes in time signature and melody. At the end of the song, an electronic drum beat comes in that mimics the opening beat of the next song. – 4/5
Catalyst – This is the first Oceansize song that I heard. The first time I heard it was when I watched the video on YouTube, which was actually the abbreviated version of the song, but I loved it, and the full version is even better. This is the first song on the album to feature vocals. Vennart’s voice doesn’t really sound that unique to me, and I like his vocal performance better on Oceansize’s later albums. Catalyst follows a sort of twisted version of the typical verse/chorus/verse format, with a long, noisy intro and a longer, proggier outro. After about 4:30, the song remains instrumental through to the end, and alternates between being loud and quiet. Overall this is a solid song and great single material. – 4.5/5
One Day All This Could Be Yours – This song is very spacey and ominous. It begins with a soft keyboard line and is joined by drumming and then guitars. The bass line in this song is incredibly groovy. The bass is very boomy and the guitar lines remain subdued but effects-laden throughout most of the song. Vennart’s vocals are very monotonous, which sounds really cool. The song slowly builds until it gets very loud and heavy around the 3-minute mark. The song suddenly drops off after a while and gets very quiet. At about 4 and a half minutes, this is one of Oceansize’s shortest standard tracks– 5/5
Massive Bereavement – This is the longest song on the album at 10 minutes. It is split into two sections, the first being very laid back and quirky feeling, and the latter being rather heavy and complex. The two sections are split by a middle section that sounds kinda creepy, with very slow pitch bending, then a section where a distorted guitar part keeps getting higher and higher until it launches into the second section. The beginning of song begins rather softly, with light drum playing and kinda spacey guitars. I don’t really like Vennart’s vocals on this track compared to the previous two songs, but the music is great. – 4.5/5
Rinsed – This instrumental starts the middle section of the album. It is very laid back and has a prominent repeating bass line, with spacey guitars played over it. The drumming is very light and seems to be hiding in the background. The guitars are very interesting in this song, and by no means should it be skipped just because it’s instrumental. – 4.5/5
You Wish – This is where the album takes a turn for the worse. The next three songs are some of Oceansize’s worst. Like Massive Bereavement, this song is split into two main sections. It starts like a traditional alternative rock song, with Vennart’s vocals coming in pretty earlier. The second section is louder and heavier and sounds kinda like mainstream heavy rock. At around 3:30 it gets a little quieter and reminds me of Tool, but it still retains the same feel and gets louder again. The drumming is what really stands out in this song and stops it from being truly awful. – 2.5/5
Remember Where You Are – This song sounds like an extended alternative rock song, but more complex. It remains pretty subdued throughout most of the song, but it gets kinda loud towards the end before getting quieter in the last minute. – 3.5/5
Amputee – I think this is the first song Oceansize wrote, and it shows. The guitar parts do sound cool, as usual. However, it sounds more like a typical rock song than any of their other songs. Not much more to say. – 2/5
Unravel – This instrumental begins the albums final section, which is the best one and more than makes up for the rather mediocre middle part. This song is pretty subdued, and it’s based on a repeating piano line. The drumming is distorted and sounds very electronic. The guitars sound pretty ambient. – 4/5
Women Who Love Men Who Love Drugs – This is probably my favorite song of all time next to “Idioteque” by Radiohead. It is very spacey and (like their instrumentals) shows Oceansize’s post-rock side. There are only two stanzas of vocals in the whole song, and they’re pretty short. The guitars are very effects-laden, and all the lines flow together really well. The song gets loud and climaxes right after the last line of vocals, which is about halfway through the song. Afterwards, the song gets quieter and more repetitive. The opening guitar line will stay in your head for the rest of your life. Superb. Oh, yeah, this song also gets the award for best title. – 5/5 (I really want to give it more, but I can’t)
Saturday Morning Breakfast Show – This is a really great song. The end of WWLMWLD fades into the beginning of it. Starts off kinda psychedelic. This song is just over 9 minutes, and all of it is great. Like Massive Bereavement, SMBS is split into two major parts. The first part is really groovy and cool, while the second part is extremely epic. – 5/5
Long Forgotten – The last song on the album is one of the best. It remains pretty subdued throughout most of its 9 minutes and features a string section that drifts in and out at different places. Like WWLMWLD, this song shows of Oceansize’s post-rock side. About halfway through, everything drops out except for bass, which plays really long, slow notes. After a little while the various instruments start layering over one another again and the band is yet again joined by the string section for the most emotional climax on the album. At the end, all of the instruments drop out, leaving the electronic noise that is heard at the beginning of the album. -5/5
Overall,
Effloresce is very epic and ambitious. There are several amazing songs on this album, but a few bad tracks keep it from becoming a classic. However, this album is mandatory listening for anyone who loves post-rock, epic British rock, or progressive death indie. I would recommend their later albums over this one, though.
