Oceans of Slumber - Where Gods Fear to Speak (2024)

Constantly improving with each release, Oceans of Slumber continue their storied career with the masterful “Where Gods Fear to Speak”. This release perfectly showcases the band’s unique style with Progressive Metal/Rock elements paired with the soulful vocals of Cammie Gilbert. Clocking in at over 50 minutes, the ten tracks in this release showcase the different facets of the band’s wide ranging influences, from Death/Black Metal to more playful and experimental styles.

Opening with the album title track, we get a solid mixture of sultry female vocals, crafty drumming, and diverse tempos. The opener even features some hectic and heavy passages with harsh vocals and intense drumming. The heaviness continues with “Run from the Light” and ““Don’t Come Back from Hell Empty Handed”” with their hypnotic interludes alongside faster paced proggy sections. The drumming of Dobber Beverly is quite diverse, changing tempos very effectively to intricately make transitions during songs.

We particularly love shorter tracks like “Don’t Come Back from Hell Empty Handed” and “The Given Dream” where the soaring female vocals take a lead and create sultry atmospheres that enthrall the listener. Depending on what lens do you want to see this release, tracks like “I Will Break the Pride of Your Will” perfectly mix contrasting elements of powerful drumming and heavy guitar riffs with solemn vocals, this allows the listener to change the dynamics of the song depending what is being paid attention to.

Closing with a magical cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game”, the band leaves on a high note as the listener will certainly be eager to spin this release a few more times to fully enjoy and digest all the elements and influences that are baked into the band’s music. “Where Gods Fear to Speak” is definitely one of the band’s more diverse and engaging releases, guaranteeing that the listener will be engaged and mesmerized.

Label: Season of Mist

Release: September 13th, 2024

Genre: Progressive Metal/Rock

Country: USA