I'm struggling to think of something to say about ...And Oceans that hasn't been said about a million other bands before. Allotropic/Metamorphic - Genesis of Dismorphism (or AMGOD, to use the advised acronym) wants to be profoud and innovative (just look at the title...), but comes across as unexceptional and bland. It's not a bad album, there's just nothing to make it stand out. ...And Oceans take the traditional blackened death metal sound, and add absolutely nothing to it, rendering AMGOD pretty pointless as anything other than background noise. It's pleasant enough, without ever going anywhere new.
The generic thrashing is occasionally punctuated by comedy keyboards which either vary the sound or add comic relief, depending on just how silly they sound. Ludicrouskly title opener Intelligence Is Sexy (now there's a sentiment I can agree with) sets the tone for the album, thrashing away merrily, showing signs of quality, but never rising above mediocrity for a significant amount of time. And so it goes on. Postfuturistika and Tears Have No Name combine speed and melody, making good use of the standard atmospheric synth sound to form meandering epics, and TBA In A Silver Box is a decent ambient piece for a minute of two, but then forgets to progress, and gets boring. Nothing else really stands out, the remaining tracks merging into a dark, turgid mass of noise. It's been done, and it was more interesting last time.
-
5Nick Lancaster.'s Score