Review Summary: A great debut from one of modern metal's best.
Having already been a big fan of The Ocean Collective's brand of post-metal, this a review more focused on the developmental stages of a now veteran band. One could possibly compare it to hearing Judas Priest's "Screaming For Vengeance" and going back to "Sad Wings of Destiny". Obviously "Sad Wings of Destiny" was a great album, but it certainly lacked the focus and developed musical style of Judas Priest at the height of their game. It's a very similar situation with The Ocean.
First off, this recording is a great venture into comlex rhythms and interesting song structures. The first track, the instrumental "Nazca", has a very atmospheric quality, lulling the listener into a trance of sorts, only for that trance to be broken by the immediate shift in mood that is "The Human Stain", which is very aggressive and intense to start, but then all of a sudden, another shift in mood, as the orchestral strings that were a nice undertone on "Nazca" are pushed to the forefront to make up an excellent build to the climax of "The Human Stain". These two songs back to back are a great example of smart songwriting on this album, taking interesting shifts in mood and instrumentation, keeping the listener on their toes, excited for what could be next. A great example of the rhythmic complexity on this album comes in the next track "Comfort Zones", were about halfway through the song there is a nice back and forth between the two guitars, layered over pounding bass and some really nice percussion, and even some melodious guitar work on top of that. And "The Greatest Bane" contains one of the most brutal couple of riffs on the album (after a very dynamic and epic journey), assaulting your ears till the album closes. Just some very satisfying music in regards to rhythm and song structure.
On top of all of that, all the instruments are doing their part for the betterment of the album as a whole. Especially on the lighter interludes and builds ("Fluxion", "The Human Stain"), some very gripping melodies are showcased by The Ocean. And like with all of The Ocean's material I've heard, the bass is quite refreshing, in that it isn't just thrown to the back of the mix and disregarded, it's just as important to the music as the guitar, the vocals, what have you. The percussion is always on point, maybe not as diverse as on later recordings, but still solid and interesting. The orchestral elements on this album are quite good as well, serving their most important purpose on "The Human Stain", but also bolstering songs and adding to their complexity and interest (mainly on the first half of the album). The vocals are solid, but having heard the vocals on "Anthropocentric" and "Heliocentric", I'm just missing that clean vocal element that is now so important to The Ocean's sound. It's not that the vocals aren't good, they just lack the diversity that makes them great on later albums, they certainly don't detract from the overall sound though. The guitar on this album is great, most notably when they are driving away at your senses ("Dead On the Whole") with the intensity that would dominate "Aeolian".
Overall, this is an excellent debut that only promised more to come that I'm sure many metal fans are glad to listen to and enjoy.
Standout Tracks - "The Human Stain", "Comfort Zones", "The Greatest Bane"
