Review by Adam M on January 10, 2017.

Oceans of Slumber are one of the rare bands that had a female vocalist in 2016. The use of female vocals to entrance on top of otherwise melodic music is done to near perfection here.

The music is certainly one with dynamics and gradual ups and downs. There is also a ton of added emotion to be found. The overall effect is to enamor the listener with the variety of musical palettes available. There is no doubt a soft and pretty side to the music to go along with the harsher moments and this should be treasured because of the use of a female vocalist on top of things. Cammie Gilbert adds a mostly gentle, but also forceful vocal platter to the table that is varied enough to remain interesting at any juncture. There is also an accompanying harsh male vocalist that adds diversity at certain occasions. The music varies between melodic death metal and doom in almost equal portions to remain interesting throughout. This change of pace means everything song sounds different and like something new has been brought to the table. It’s impossible to guess what comes next and this is part of the fun of the album. This music is really in the hands of the vocalist, but the guitar work is still splendid in its own right as well. I enjoyed the overall scheme of musicianship that was present. If there’s a downside to the album, it’s that it doesn’t really grab you as much as you might want at times, but this is a minor quibble.

The music here is atmospheric enough to be placed among the higher echelons of the metal music scene for 2016 and Winter is a very majestic and beautiful work. Congrats for the band members on pulling off this gem.

Overall: 8.1 out of 10