Ocean Grove: The Rhaposdy Tapes

Anyone who’s vaguely plugged into the –core side of metal knows Australia’s been a hotbed of distinctive and powerful acts in that scene, from Parkway Drive and I Killed The Prom Queen in the 00’s, to Northlane, In Hearts Wake and Thy Art Is Murder. Ocean Grove are the latest addition to this canon, despite being active since 2010, they’re releasing their debut album in 2017. Nu metal has been making a slow and steady comeback over the 2010s yet has never quite reached the same level of ubiquity it enjoyed in its heyday. Ocean Grove fit into this nu metal with added -core revival trend, yet they’re able to add a fresh and innovative spin on it in a sea of Slipknot riffs and Linkin Park inspired choruses.

The main thing that stands out about this record is the diverse range of influences at play, a grab-bag approach reminiscent of Faith No More. The typical influences you might imagine are clearly observable here, Limp Bizkit’s bounce, the futuristic crunch of Bring Me The Horizon, System Of A Down’s chaotic energy and the soaring yet rough edged choruses of grunge. However they bring a number of surprises to the table, coming most notably with the various interludes and quieter numbers, which while feeling more like sketches than the finished product, are admirable in their desire to do something different. This experimentation is most successful with “Thunderdome”, a track channelling Deftones, Nirvana and murky R&B simultaneously, “Hitachi”’s murky Gorillaz worship and “Slow Soap Soak”’s dub infused haze. The fire and fury that characterised their early EPs is not lost however, with the swaggering “Intimate Alien” containing the record’s most infectious bassline and nastiest riff, and their hardcore side being indulged with the 1-2 battering of “Beers” and “These Boys Light Fires”, with Comeback Kid riffs and Incubus choruses. The metalcore sound the band began their career with is still present here, but it’s not so much a dominant force so much as threaded through various songs, a mosh part here and there, which elevates this album above a lot of others in a similar ballpark.  A diverse range of influences doesn’t mean much it’s essentially grafting on direct rip offs of other bands and calling that a song, and thankfully this is not the case, though not every track hits the mark, they all exist as separate characters with their own distinct identity. A strong production job helps keep all of these disparate elements balanced and working together in tandem, the riffs are destructive, the cleans swing from fragile to world-conquering, most notably on “The Wrong Way”, the electronics are deeply layered in a way that keeps you coming back to them hoping to discover more.

Indeed it is this diversity that both makes the album as strong as it is yet also holds it back. An intro and two interluding numbers on a twelve track album feels a bit superfluous, they seem to exist less in terms of guiding the flow of the album and more as a means for the group to show off how far they can push their sound, which while a praiseworthy gesture, means they exist more as compelling snatches of sound rather than essential parts of the whole. The Rhapsody Tapes is a fitting name for this album, as it is more reminiscent of a mixtape than a cohesive album. Then again the album may be operating under its own twisted logic, the lyrics are often buried and when examined are quite cryptic and guarded. From watching the videos released for “Intimate Alien”, “Thunderdome” and early song “I Told You To Smile” there is a theme of sorts with the alien figure, if not a coherent story. Given how this record throws so much at you without gently guiding you through it, that wouldn’t be a surprise. That’s not to take away from the fact that as a statement of intent, an album to launch this band and what they’re all about, The Rhapsody Tapes is an extremely strong piece of work, its great songs are some of the most potent songs to emerge from this “nu nu metal” scene, and its weaker moments are more compelling sketches of things to come rather than failures that should have been left on the cutting room floor. This isn’t the perfect debut album, but if you want to hear a metal album with an eye on the past but its feet firmly planted in the future, something that’s both attention grabbing but with substance to mull over, I’d strongly suggest giving this a spin.

7 shrimp on the barbies out of 10 slap basses.

Standout Tracks: These Boys Light Fires, Hitatchi, The Wrong Way, Intimate Alien.

For Fans Of: Faith No More, Stray From The Path, Bring Me The Horizon.