Review by Raphaël on April 2, 2022.

Ocean Of Slumber is not an easy band to describe. Their sound is a mix of progressive metal, gothic, doom, death/doom. They often are compared to Opeth and they are clearly influenced by them. A quiet, beautiful piano melody suddenly becomes heavy death/doom and then a catchy prog riff comes out of seemingly nowhere. But all these transitions are beautifully done, they always feel smooth. The songs on this album are remarkably well constructed. They are relatively short for prog, between 4 and 8 minutes but they manage to put many ideas and changes in each one. There is so much layers in this music that you discover something new at every listen.

The vocals are also phenomenal and add a lot to the heavy/beautiful duality. Cammie Gilbert’s voice is quite unique and so very beautiful yet powerful. But not in the traditional, and there I say cheesy, classical, operatic vocals of symphonic metal. More of a jazzy, doomy voice. Semir Özerkan on the other hand, has deep growls à la Mikael Åkerfeldt which makes the hair on your arms stand up!

The lyrical content fits the music perfectly. Themes of love and lost, grief and death give the music even more emotions and meaning. The song: 'Soundtrack To My Last Day' is about a dying person, their last thoughts and emotion and the point of view of death herself: Here I stand! The greatest hope The great equaliser The queen of the lost. Powerful stuff! I also need to mention the color of grace with the most beautiful passage: Holding on to everything you say Cause' your words they paint a picture of me A beautiful one of what I could be If I'd simply learn to shake away the blame You save me from myself You save me from myself. No! I did not cry, you did!

Back to the review, I must admit that I love when things get heavy so some of my favorite songs are 'The Adorned Fathomless Creation' and 'Total Failure Apparatus'. This is where the death/doom is at it’s finest, heavy and crushing. There is 2 instrumental tracks well placed in the album. The first one, 'Imperfect Divinity', comes in the first part of the album (song 4) and gives these creepy, gloomy vibes. It serves as a great intro to the next song which is quite heavy. 'September (Momentaria)' is the second one. It opens with beautiful and simple piano notes and then strings come in with the most beautiful melody. I dare you not to cry (again)!

Over all this album is dark and beautiful. The musicianship is impeccable, the vocals are superb and diverse, the lyrics goes perfectly with the music even the artwork, just by looking at it, is able to convey the same emotions you get listening to the music. In my opinion this is a step up from The Banished Heart. If you enjoy Opeth, Katatonia or The Gathering this album is for you.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10