Oceans Ate Alaska
Lost Isles


4.5
superb

Review

by AtomicShane USER (11 Reviews)
February 24th, 2015 | 375 replies


Release Date: 2015 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Innovative metalcore with a touch of wankery.

Oceans Ate Alaska have expanded upon modern metalcore with their debut album, Lost Isles, as a blend of melodic and technical instrumentation make this album standout among the crowded metalcore scene. Lost Isles highlights a lot of the band's talent that they touched on with their previous works, and expands upon it greatly. Compare the generic singles that made Oceans Ate Alaska popular to this album, and one will see the massive amount of growth that the band has experienced, as they have created a sound that is distinguishable as their own with this release.

Lost Isles features a blend of post-hardcore and technical metalcore, which comes together surprisingly well, considering the genre differences. The key component that allows for this blend to happen is due to the musicianship that every member of the band has. The drums play a major role, as they stand out in the mix, bringing some of the most complicated drumming I’ve ever heard from a metalcore release. The drums range from blast beats to d-beats, and this is all occurring with ever-changing time signatures, which seem to happen almost too much. The technicality of the guitars is also present, ranging from melodic ambiance, to Rings of Saturn-ish wankery. Songs like “Part of Something” highlight the balance of technical and melodic guitar playing together, although some may see the transitions between the two styles as being too noticeable, and taking away from the music. Vocally, the amount of range used is pretty impressive, as he uses cleans, along with decent lows and more impressive highs. The use of cleans is much less than their previous work, but instead we see a much larger focus on the heaviness.

Song structure is something that is important this album in particular, as the standard formula is only used in a minority of their songs. Tracks like “Mirage” and Linger” display the overall tone of the album well, which is the balance of being melodic and heavy at the same time. Breakdowns are something that this album definitely utilizes very creatively, although they may be used too much for some, with almost every track on the album having more than one. Overall, Lost Isles is a great example of technical metalcore, as Oceans Ate Alaska has come up with a unique sound that is breath of fresh air for an increasingly stale genre.



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user ratings (272)
3.4
great
other reviews of this album
A257U2 (3)
They "took time for granted and paid the price!"...



Comments:Add a Comment 
AtomicShane
February 24th 2015


2121 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Rating may be a tad too high, but I'm really digging this album at the moment.



Anyways, check em out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0dYh6Usv7c&spfreload=10

Jasdevi087
February 24th 2015


8164 Comments


Your first paragraph sounds like a conclusion.

granitenotebook
Staff Reviewer
February 24th 2015


1297 Comments


solid review, kind of agree with ^that but it could be fixed pretty easily.

J0ckstrapsFTW
February 24th 2015


3797 Comments


Pretty sick album totally different than their other material. Pos'd

Nocturnalize
February 25th 2015


2463 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

This band stepped up big time loving this album

Jasdevi087
February 25th 2015


8164 Comments


Yeah, just a little rewording would fix my little quip, this isn't actually a bad concise review. Might be bothered to check this out even.

trackbytrackreviews
February 25th 2015


3469 Comments


I remember Clocks sounding like an Alesana rip-off

RadicalEd
February 25th 2015


9546 Comments


Wank Wank.

betray
February 25th 2015


9392 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

metalcore?



wankery?



sounds right up my alley. will check. great review. posd.

MattTD
February 25th 2015


678 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Liked Vultures and Sharks, will check this out.



Just a heads up - "almost every tack" 'track' is spelt incorrectly. Otherwise, good review. Congrats on the feature as well.

Akashrine
February 25th 2015


5 Comments


Metalcore ? Why not but with a lot of bollocks.
Really loud sound with heavy voices (Deathcore type) ;)

Hopelust
February 25th 2015


3625 Comments


The drums, albeit awesome in ability, sound rather artificial and flat.

MattTD
February 25th 2015


678 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

"Metalcore ? Why not but with a lot of bollocks.

Really loud sound with heavy voices (Deathcore type) ;)"



What does that even mean

TomAkaVeto
February 25th 2015


1963 Comments


Kind of a dumb band name.

betray
February 25th 2015


9392 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

5.0 classic

Explosions in the Sky The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place

HORSE the band Desperate Living

Funeralopolis
February 25th 2015


14586 Comments


heard one song and it was awful

trackbytrackreviews
February 25th 2015


3469 Comments


you're awful

Funeralopolis
February 25th 2015


14586 Comments


I'm just about as cuddly as a cactus and as charming as an eel tbh

dbizzles
February 25th 2015


15253 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Why does this have to have emo cleans?

This would be waaaaaay better without them.

I was jamming this hard and then I got reverted back to what I liked when I was 15 :-/

dbizzles
February 25th 2015


15253 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

TECHMO



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