Review Summary: While it has all been done before, this is Oceano's personal take on deathcore's blueprints, and it's a bleak and brutal one at that.
Ascendants provides everything you could possibly want from Oceano. Whether that’s their signature gritty deathcore littered with skull pummeling breakdowns, or simply something to blast while working out – whatever craving you may have for a mindless 30-minute burst of discordant insanity, Oceano delivers.
Ascendants improves on everything Oceano put on the table on their previous three albums and amps the energy up to 10. The riffs are tight and crunchy, the drumming is ridiculously on point, the vocals are dynamic and visceral, and several doses of melody are infused into the mix resulting in a handful of memorable moments that beckon repeated listens.
Ascendants serves as the proper sequel to
Depths we never got. It’s a band taking their sound, polishing it and improving it, without straying far from their comfort zone, but just far enough to peak the interest of even the most resistant listeners. Tracks like ‘Transient Gateways’ and ‘Dead Planet’ take their dissonance to new lows (pitch wise) with some of the dirtiest sounding breakdowns of the band’s career, while others like ‘Dawn of Descent’ and ‘External Existence’ lay a modicum of melody over the dense tapestry, the former having a particularly ominous and alluring atmosphere.
Now this is assuming you want anything at all from Oceano. After all, they accurately serve as the archetype for modern deathcore. Notwithstanding the fact that it’s all been done before (much better even), this is Oceano’s take on deathcore’s blueprints, and it’s a bleak and brutal one at that.
