Oceano is back with their new album entitled Contagion. After jamming this album a couple times I tend to think they should have called the album Depths Pt. 2 or Depths Redux or something. Because in all honesty it seems as though Oceano made a few touch ups and played it a tad bit safe for this record. Don’t get me wrong this album isn’t bad by any means, actually it’s really good. At time they kind of come off as a heavier and more brutal version of Whitechapel. Still they’re reliant on breakdowns and chugs to get their point across. Kids will have a hay-day with this record for the mosh pit that is for sure.
Listening to album opener “Precursor to Enslavement” one will instantly see why this could be considered a continuation of Depths. While strong by it self as an opener it loses momentum and falls flat. Next we have “Viral Re-Animation” and this is probably one of the more enjoyable songs on the album. Introducing a bit of flair with the demonic talking parts before some nasty as fuck breakdowns hit. One of the key features they experiment with on this album is of the brutal death metal genre. A lot of the new songs contain flourishes and influences from the brutal death metal standpoint, which is now highly noticeable in the way the songs are delivered “Exist in Confinement” is also a strong track melodic yet crushingly heavy. Funny thing is that there are no vocals in this song besides the spoken part. Kind of reminds one of older metalcore bands meaning it has that emotional edge. With most bands an almost instrumental track could make or break an album. It makes one wonder why they don’t experiment like this more often. Video single “Weaponized” is up next and it is a good track that still retains that Oceano sound that we all know and love. The rest of the album from the savage and brutal “Sadistic Experiments” and the album ending track “Ending Intellect,” Oceano have constructed a good yet slightly generic deathcore album.
The theme for this album as one could see is basically viruses, terrorism, chemical warfare, the end of humanity etc. The lyrics are biting and full of hate and in reality these are the views an album of this nature should express. Of course everyone will touch base on how their not original but when listening to the album one will find out that talking about puppies and girl problems wouldn’t exactly work either. Though for some this does work not mentioning who though.
Everything sounds amazing on this record from the guitars and drums to the bass and vocals everything is top notch. I wish the songs were a little more diverse but all in all definitely an album to jam if one is feeling the need for a heavy fix.
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great review i have this album and fucking love every minute of it . one of the better deathcore bands out there .
on Nov 26th, 2010 at 00:48Good review, basically spot on. The production and execution make up for the lack of songwriting. Still very enjoyable if you’re into the genre.
on Nov 26th, 2010 at 01:09“The production and execution make up for the lack of songwriting.”
on Nov 26th, 2010 at 12:17that is the problem with any -core band. all flash, zero substance.
^ Well: it all depends on what you’re after. If you want creative brilliance, then look elsewhere. If you want a really fucking heavy experience then you can’t go wrong. I suspect that many Oceano listeners are after the latter…
on Nov 27th, 2010 at 01:54there are way better outlets for just heavy, and if you want heavy and brain dead, at least mortician and torsofuck are actual metal examples that don’t rely on open chug for an excuse for children to swing their limbs around and call that songwriting.
on Nov 27th, 2010 at 19:44Great review! But for me, after Precursor the album went straight down-hill. You mind as well go buy depths yet again.
on Nov 28th, 2010 at 21:47I love this kid’s enthusiasm, even if I don’t agree with his tastes…
on Nov 30th, 2010 at 22:04