Oceans Of Slumber defy any and all convention. For the past 15 years, the Houston band have come to redefine what it means to be Southern Gothic by mixing melodic death, doom and black metal with subtle electronic flourishes and the overpowering heat of their hometown. Now, after signing with Season Of Mist, they're extending their progressive streak even further by envisioning a dark and cinematic new sub-genre that's theirs and theirs alone.
Ahead of their upcoming tour with Lacuna Coil and New Years Day, today, Oceans of Slumber are releasing the first single off their upcoming fifth album.
It's damn near impossible to constrict Oceans of Slumber to one genre. "Where Gods Fear To Speak" opens with more of the sultry doom metal headbanging that long-time fans have come to expect, but the band's new single marks entirely new ground. Punishing blast beats and a blackened torrent of melodic tremolo picking collide with Cammie Beverly's powerhouse cleans, a skyrocketing guitar solo and synths that swirl like the aura of a mystical planet. So what do we call this otherworldly occurrence?
"Dark cinematic metal", says drummer Dobber Beverly. In addition to drumming for grindcore legends Insect Warfare and American black metal trailblazers Necrofier, Dobber is a classically trained pianist who composed Oceans of Slumber's new album. "We've taken the raw and heavier direction of our last two albums and elevated it to the scale of a blockbuster IMAX movie".
The album's concept blurs the ideological lines between Dune, Blade Runner and The Dark Tower, though its first single loops back to real life events. All five members of Oceans of Slumber are from Texas, where organized religion can be as suffocating as the dust or heat. But growing up, Cammie was caught in an especially hard bind. Her childhood home was divided over her father's dedication to the Institute of Divine Metaphysical Research and her mother becoming a Jehova's Witness. "Regardless of which one you believe, organized religion makes us suffer in order to please this heavenly deity", Cammie says. "But the payoff is only an illusion".
That tension - between the promise of divine pleasure and the pains of the flesh - raises "Where Gods Fear To Speak" to truly Biblical proportions. The chant that creeps in past the four minute mark could pass for the curse of an evil sorcerer. Your grace is sufficient / Made perfect in my weakness. But those lyrics are a direct quote from the Book of 2 Corinthians.
The video for "Where Gods Fear To Speak" ties in nicely with these themes. Taken captive by some unholy masked trinity, Cammie is strung up by ropes fashioned in the style of Shibari, an ancient Japanese torture method that's evolved into a form of BDSM. Of course, nothing is strong enough to hold down Cammie's voice. Her belt covers such a wide range, steeped in the blues as much the gospel, that it really could move mountains. Only now, she's flexing a guttural new muscle.
"I've always wanted to do death growls", Cammie says. "'Where Gods Fear To Speak' presented the perfect opportunity. Mixing harsh vocals in with my cleans speaks to that tug of war between pleasure and pain, though there's a freedom that comes with pushing my voice past its perceived breaking point."
On "Where Gods Fear To Speak", Oceans of Slumber ascend to unimagined heights.
Ignite The Fire tour dates are listed below.
Dates:
May
2 - The Queen - Wilmington, DE
3 - Stone Pony - Asbury Park, NJ
4 - Reverb - Reading, PA
6 - The NorVA - Norfolk, VA
7 - The Underground at The Fillmore - Charlotte, NC
9 - Welcome To Rockville - Daytona Beach, FL *
11 - Brooklyn Bowl - Nashville, TN
13 - TempleLive - Fort Smith, AR
14 - TempleLive - Wichita, KS
15 - Delmar Hall - St Louis, MO*
17 - Sonic Temple Festival - Columbus, OH **
19 - Milwaukee Metal Fest - Milwaukee, WI *
* only Lacuna Coil
** no Oceans Of Slumber
Oceans Of Slumber lineup:
Cammie Beverly - vocals
Dobber Beverly- drums, piano
Semir Ozerkan - bass
Alex Davis - guitar
Chris Kritikos - guitar, synth
