If you’re stuck in the deepest recesses of the vile metal underground, a review of the likes of Oceans of Slumber won’t work too well. Sometimes the RMR crew has trouble emerging from the sumpy vile grip of metal’s underbelly into the lighter areas of the metal multiverse. After all, once the daemons swirling around down there have their fiery claws in your unblemished flesh, it’s difficult to dislodge yourself from their dark siren song. Thus, the band’s newest epos Where Gods Fear to Speak had to wait until we were detached enough again to take on a progressively challenged piece.
Ocean of Slumber‘s fare is as intricately laced as it is excessively complex. You’ll find a bulk load of Melodic and Melodic Death Metal. And sometimes, this feels like the realm where Lacuna Coil still featured them terrible growls. But, to reduce Where Gods Fear to Speak to some derivative of Scabbia’s outfit would be unfair, of course. The aggressive progressive streak drunk on a tit-for-tat exchange of clears, growls, and Hardcore-ish shouts often whip OoS‘s wares somewhat mercilessly around the listeners’ ears. Apart from prog, death vibes, doom, soul, and many more tangents of ebullient songwriting.
And this opens the stage to one Cammie Beverly, the lead singer. On the softer acoustic and ambient parts, her delivery often oscillates between Alex Hepburn1 and the wispy vibes of R’n’B straight from the defunct Amy Winehouse. With the added trump card2 of growls that she effortlessly throws in. In short, the lady is one of the best interpreters for this specific slice of the metal multiverse. You have to be an astute multi-talent to live through the complex songwriting on display. Especially when one Dobber Beverly throws curveballs at his singer-wife to jolt her into unmatched bouts of performance. Some doubtful pastime when he’s not busy manning the drums? Perhaps. But let me waste a bit of ink for the outstanding work of the axemen here. Haunting and almost extrasensory acoustics, harsh riffs, tasty tremolos, meat-filled leads, you got it all. These guys knock it out of the park, together with the filigrane drum work that is as adapted to the theme at hand as it is compelling.
And all of that embeds seamlessly into the overall delicate fabric of tastes, moods, and emotions. The resulting complexity never feels out of place, meaning that the arrangement is thought through right to the end. But it also means that Where Gods Fear to Speak may remain inaccessible to the casual listener. You won’t find cheap thrills ready to satisfy your metal urges quickly. Instead, considerable time needs to be invested to get to this (overly) sophisticated construct’s inner workings.
To illustrate, a considerable number of listens3 had to descend down this reviewer’s aural gullet to get at the innards of the record. But – funny enough – while all of that may scream ‘too complex’ at you, it actually isn’t. Knotty and fully loaded it may well be. But you won’t find any half-baked ideas or semi-finished passages delivered in a rush. Yet, even Dobber Beverly admits that the inherent complexity costs them dearly. And that if people “…get to see the real thing in front of them, which they don’t a lot of the time, it just works, intrinsically.” This here crew quite agrees. But hoping for powerful venues to build a vibrant audience might not be the right strategy. And – the considerable length of the piece may get in the way as well. The weak tea interpretation of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game – for instance – sits athwart a pretty sturdy tracklist. But it’s too late to reach for the carving knife now.
Ultimately though, Where Gods Fear To Speak left us with a rich jambalaya of styles, moods, and a ton of emotions. A mix of aggressive prog, different extreme metal genres, ambient and Post Metal moments, and a vocal performance to dream for will fascinate the listener willing to descend into the intricate details of the record. As we said before, this piece ain’t something for the casual thrill junky. But those willing to invest time into active listening will be rewarded with a true pot of gems. A record at the junction of the avant-garde and harsh metal that doesn’t just adhere to a style but will take you on an obliquely baroque and labyrinthine journey to a place where gods fear to speak.
Take it from one who’s been there.
Ed’s note: And the record made it onto the 2024 Top 10 Records. Congrats!
Record Rating: 8/10 | Label: Season of Mist | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 13 September 2024