Within 30 seconds of slipping this disc into my CD player I felt an urge. I just wanted to call Oceano up and tell them to stop. These deathcore bantamweights mindlessly bore and boulder through Incisions, their third record. Maybe they’re nu-metal? They sure love dat slap bass, making it rain over opener Eternal Wasteland. Internal War suffers through throat grinder Adam Warren’s whispering creepy nothings in our ear. It’s got the worst case of split personality any single metal track has ever had. They crib Behemoth-style rolling blast beats before facing toward sparkly post-rock atmospherics. Where are you going, Internal War? Do you need a lie down?
Oceano are marginally better sticking to an agenda. New Age Apophis is deathcore-by-numbers; big ole blast beats serving as bedrock to heaving blobs of guitar and breakdowns; breakdowns where guitars rest and dead air rushes through the gaps. The title track again runs loose like a kid on red cordial. Is it active rock radio fodder or a soundtrack for a sweaty, ultraviolent moshpit? As for the Chuck Schuldiner memorial instrumentals on Disseverance? Why not more of that? Why not all of that, for the entire record?
I know I said they ought to stop. They don’t need to stop forever, just pause and reflect. What kind of band does Oceano want to be? On Incisions, it feels like Oceano, conceptually speaking, is stuck sword fighting a particularly noxious fart. Next time, pick something and stick to it.
BY TOM VALCANIS
Best Track: Disseverance
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: Films with plot holes or puzzles with pieces missing.
In A Word: Confused.
