Oceano - Ascendants (2015) (VBR) V01dV

Via Wikipedia:

Upon its formation in 2006, Oceano was originally a grindcore band formed by guitarist Jeremy Carroll that featured six members. Carrol gathered Chicago guitarist Andrew Mikhail, vocalist Adam Warren, drummer Michael Southcomb and bassist Kevin Hare to form Oceano's first full line-up in 2007. This Oceano performed at local venues in the Chicago area.

Oceano recorded their full debut album Depths in late 2008, releasing it worldwide on April 20, 2009.

Jeremy Carrol was fired from the band in January 2009 due to personality conflicts between members. Carrol's leaving left only one member from the original Oceano lineup in the band, Adam Warren. On February 3, 2010 the band's lead guitarist, Andrew Mikhail also departed from the band.

Oceano was a part of the 2011 Summer Slaughter Tour in North America alongside co-headliners Whitechapel and The Black Dahlia Murder.

In January 2012, a rumor spread that the band was disestablishing, which was confirmed as false by Earache. Instead, an announcement was made that the band actually was going on a short hiatus after their performance at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival due to vocalist, Adam Warren, becoming a father. After some time spent away from the band, however, Oceano decided not to disband, and to continue touring. They are currently a part of the roster for the US summer Scream It Like You Mean it tour and also revealed that they had begun writing their next album, Incisions, due in 2013. The first lyric video from the album, "Slow Murder", was released on January 28, 2013. On January 12, 2015 the band released a new song titled "Dead Planet" from their upcoming album "Ascendants" which will be released on March 23rd from Earache Records.


Review via Sputnikmusic:

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.






Tracklist:

1. Nephilim
2. Transient Gateways
3. The World Engine
4. Dead Planet
5. The Taken
6. Dawn of Descent
7. The Dulce Incident
8. Arc of Creation
9. External Existence