Review Summary: Melodic hardcore which isn't afraid to dream big.
In the void between average and excellent records, there are two distinct categories of albums; those of ‘well-executed but by-the-numbers’ and those of ‘unrefined ambition’. Being As An Ocean has always tended to fall into the former for me – and not that there was anything wrong with that; their particular brand of melodic hardcore was often effective, if not efficient. Yet it was never one which never stood out to me, a sound which although enjoyable, was one which was often inseparable from their peers – and the well of such bands goes deep. And while each subsequent release showed a broadening of their sound, it’s in their latest effort, ‘Waiting for Morning to Come’, where they make the biggest leap, releasing a record which delicately teeters on the edge between unrefined ambition and something genuinely phenomenal.
Perhaps the first noticeable thing is the distinctive tone and mood in the music and artwork; two aspects which are absolutely nailed here. The late hours of the night and the early hours of the morning are a time for spiritual and emotional demons to materialize, a time for solitude and melancholy – an aesthetic which has been eloquently explored by countless bands in the past, such as on Bohren & der Club of Gore’s seminal release ‘Sunset Mission’ and a by a multitude of lo-fi hip-hop artists across Soundclound and YouTube since. And while Being As An Ocean’s approach to this aesthetic is a more aggressive one, there are similarities – such as in the number of interludes across the album, which are mostly intimate and sparse piano pieces, the use of dreamlike, slowly evolving synthesisers and the addition of minimalistic electro beats scattered throughout.
It’s also easily the band’s most experimental and diverse work to date – and while the melodic guitars, crashing drums and harsh vocals are still present – there’s a wide variety of sounds and influences touched upon, which differ widely from track to track. And while some don’t quite hit the mark – an equal amount succeed; such as the EDM-inspired vocal samples in ‘Black & Blue’, the tribal-like drumming and bells in ‘Thorns’ and the hints of 80’s influenced synthwave in tracks such as ‘Dissolve’ and ‘Blacktop’. There’s even some completely off-the-wall stuff, such as ‘eB tahT srewoP ehT’, a dark, atmospheric track which can be played both forwards and backwards – with backwards being the default. And although the idea sounds laughable, it becomes this fascinatingly demonic, claustrophobic beast of a piece, which is incredibly unsettling, in either direction. With such drastic changes in direction, it’s understandable that the whole record won’t be for everyone – yet most should be able to find at least one track which works for them.
However it’s far from a perfect record – and while the aesthetic and musical ideas explored are fascinating, at times it feels like an experiment in soundscape at the expense of song writing. Indeed it‘s often a frustrating experience; with more than a few ideas leading to musical cul-de-sacs and with many strong passages sandwiched between equally uninspired and cliché ones. One notable example is in ‘Dissolve’, where a strong build with some poetic verses
‘the wind carries us home / tin cans, recycled air, end the minstrels’ roam’ leads to an infuriatingly grating chorus, where the clean vocals wail
‘and I wear my heart on my sleeve / so you can watch it bleed’ – a line which sounds like it came straight from a Jarrod Alonge parody album rather than from an actual band. And while the slicker, electronic production does add a sense of scale, it all too often hides the fact there’s a band underneath there, burying the guitars and drums beneath a wall of samples and over-compression and detracting attention from the raw vocals and emotive melodies – perhaps the two main facets of why melodic-hardcore is such an effective genre.
Yet when I began this review with a comparison of ‘well-executed but by-the-numbers’ and ‘unrefined ambition’, it’s the latter which I’ll always admire more, as it’s an album like this which is required to push forward a genre which while has no shortage of ideas to scream about, seems to have run out of different ways to scream them. ‘Waiting for Morning to Come’ doesn’t quite represent the future of melodic-hardcore – it’s a bit messy, slightly bloated and the song writing and melodies aren’t quite strong enough to live up to the ambition and scope it clearly set out to achieve. But it’s exciting, refreshing and represents a band eager to try new things and push the expectations and norms of the genre – and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Listen To:
Black & Blue
Thorns
Alone
