OCEANS OF SLUMBER: The Banished Heart (DEATH METAL,Doom): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Some sorrows require respect. They are so deep, so true, so authentic that they become a strength. So we must not disturb them. Just listen to them and take in their beauty. Sublime, necessarily sublime, Cammie Gilbert's voice tells us all the sadness of the world and transforms it into a breath of life. Melancholy as a resistance to the world. The divine beauty of a female voice as a remedy for sorrow. Whoever said that perfection was not to be found in this world has never heard the voice of Cammie Gilbert. The Oceans Of Slumber singer never overdoes it, never forces her voice, and in the end, it is her who consoles us. Obviously, since we would never have dared to make the first step, subjugated by so much charisma and depth. "Can you see it? Can you feel it? Finally you are in my arms" sings Cammie. To resist it is impossible.

Oceans Of Slumber had surprised more than one in 2016 with the release of "Winter". So well that the Texan band was hired for the Enslaved tour alongside Ne Obliviscaris. But the Dobber Beverly couple didn't make it. To overcome his grief, like many before him, the drummer, pianist and artistic director of the quintet took refuge in music and in the composition of "The Banished Heart". He put all his despair and all his soul into it. With a muse like Cammie Gilbert, the result is an album of rare richness and intensity. The progressive metal of the beginnings gave way to a heavy, dark and poignant death-doom in the line of My Dying Bride, The Gathering or the first albums of Anathema.

But reducing the album to a precise genre would be a pity because the strength of Oceans Of Slumber is their personality and the exemplary complementarity of their members. If melancoly prevails, the rage is never far. Thus the pure voice of Cammie Gilbert sometimes gives way to cleverly dosed growls ('Fleeting Vigilance', 'At Dawn') and the death metal tracks with heavy riffs and impressive blast beats ('Etiolation', 'A Path To Broken Stars') compete with the slower doom tracks ('The Decay Of Disregard', 'Howl Of The Rougarou') And then there are the nuggets. The timeless tracks whose beauty is only equalled by the beauty of the compositions. The Banished Heart' first, a pure emotional and addictive jewel. Then 'No Color No Light', a heartbreaking metal ballad and a devastating duo between Cammie Gilbert and Tom S. Englund, the singer of Evergrey.

With "The Banished Heart", Oceans Of Slumber leaves the comfort zone of progressive metal with a female singer and exposes their true personality, that of a black rose blooming on the soil of the sorrows of life and whose perfume all the broken hearts will appreciate. With class and sweetness, the album closes with a gospel, 'Wayfaring Stranger', a final prayer to the listener, as if to urge him to get this beautiful album. - Official website

OCEANS OF SLUMBER

THE BANISHED HEART

CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS

DEATH METAL