Reviews
Album review: Ocean Grove – ODDWORLD
Melbourne party-starters Ocean Grove get weird in both good ways and bad on album number four…
The band refer to their sound as "psychotropic death songs from the profound abyss."
Since the earliest recorded history, humans have sought power through any means necessary -- at the expense of loved ones, health, sanity, and in extreme cases, the lives of others. Or, to quote a hardened, wise Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings after she had seen some shit, “The hearts of men are easily corrupted.”
Portland, Oregon’s latest treasure, three-piece spiritual psych-doom act Glory In The Shadows, explores this concept on their debut EP, which we’re premiering below. The band takes lyrical inspiration from, “I am become death, destroyer of worlds” -- the sobering Bhagavad Gita quote made famous by physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer after his life’s work gave birth to the atomic bomb -- and weaves it intricately into 4 extremely heavy and deeply moving songs.
Vocalist/guitarist Alyssa Maucere explains, “Ultimately, it's about man craving to be God, then regretting that decision.”
She and the other two members have a long history of playing in extreme-metal bands: she’s also the bassist of Eight Bells, while guitarist Taylor Robinson and drummer Chuck Watkins are in death/doom act Hands Of Thieves and Shrine of the Serpent, respectively. (their live act also features Gaytheist’s powerhouse drummer Nikolis Parks.) When they got together to form Glory In The Shadows, they all agreed that this would not be another metal band. The end result is somewhere between a faster True Widow and a far more aggressive Om -- full of raw, primal emotion and unassuming power that illustrates the dark motives behind the modern world.
The record comes out tomorrow, but you can stream the whole thing below. You can also preorder it right here.