We stay in progressive style with the Dutch from 'Our Oceans' who released their 2nd studio recording 'While Time Disappears' after 'Our Oceans' in 2015 and which is not their first project since 'Tymon Kruidenier' and 'Robin Zielhorst' have participated for 4 years in the project 'Cynic' and they had set up another project, 'Exivious' dissolved in 2017. This new opus which makes me discover 'Our Oceans' is full of an overflowing creativity and takes us into an innovative progressive metal : like any music that we hears for the first time, it therefore requires to appropriate it little by little and, listening after listening, the experienced pleasure increases and finally, this 'While Time Disapperars' quickly becomes an essential album in his album collection. On the form, we could draw a parallel with projects like 'Leprous', 'Haken' or 'Pain Of Salvation' and of course this what could do 'Steven Wilson' with 'Porcupine Tree' for the innovative side but the comparison ends there because each of its formations brings its own personality.
It is with 'Unravel' that the album begins with an admirable crescendo which ends in a vocal and instrumental sonic debauchery to fall abruptly and leave again for an explosive final, then, complete change of scenery with 'Heaven or Hell 'and all the tension accumulated in the first track which evaporates in a kind of daydream which gradually gains momentum and which offers magnificent instrumental breaks, and the two following compositions 'The Heart's Whisper' and 'Motherly Flame' continue on this path made of sonorous roller coasters and, little by little, we let ourselves be carried away by these bewitching melodies which completely envelop us and which become, over the listening, completely addictive, the song of 'Tymon Kruidenier' contributing to it for a good part. Same feeling for the melancholy 'Passing By', very reserved in most of the title but of which we have this strange feeling of a restrained tension which can implode at any moment, which happens quite late in the title with a masterful final , then, 'Face Them' sends us a good rush of adrenaline and is kind of a reverse build to the previous compositions with huge energy in the first four minutes of the track, fueled by a huge rhythm section and eventually dropping a few seconds to leave for an explosive final. With 'Your Night, My Dawn', we are in a strange and repetitive atmosphere that can recall the beginning of the psychedelic which explored electronic sound paths and whose tempo injected by the drums reminds me of the beginning of the 'Floyds' and 'Ummaguma' but in a much more modern style, then, 'You Take' suddenly appears classic by compared to the rest, at least for the first three quarters of the title because it then explodes for a few seconds to fall for a very refined final and it is a bit of a mirror with 'Face Them'. The album ends with 'With Hands Torn Open' which demonstrates one last time all the know-how of this formation which has a talent for remarkable nuances both at the level of intensity but also at the rhythmic level.
In summary, the Dutch of 'Our Oceans' offer us a very innovative album which necessarily requires multiple listening to enter their tormented world between permanent tensions and relaxations and to draw all the richness and emotion that we can only capture if we accept to surrender entirely to this inner journey which destines 'While Time Disappears' to all those looking for innovative and touching music between rock and progressive metal... | |
