Oceans of slumber, Starlight and ash

Oceans of slumber are a band that truly managed to impress me with their debut album, Winter, and I’ve always paid attention to them and been excited to hear what they put out next. Unfortunately I’ve been more and more disappointed with their releases, culminating with Starlight and ash which I will not be listening to any time soon. Most of what I complained about in their previous record is present and even amplified. At least they commit to a certain style and stop flip-flopping between the two sides of wailing vocals and harsh blunt metal, so I suppose that it’s a plus in terms of deciding what they want to be, but it’s definitely a minus in terms of dullness. 

For me the biggest flaw of Starlight and ash is that I don’t feel anything while listening to it. Ironically, there’s so much “heart pouring” and intense singing that it achieves the opposite effect and after a few tracks I become quite numb to it. It’s curious because normally Cammie has so much emotion in her voice, I honestly can’t understand what happened and how she can come off as overdone and artificial as she does here. 

In fact, her vocals are a big part of the problem of this record. Cammie’s voice is wonderful, so rich and sultry, but the way she is using it on this release is definitely not my cup of tea. I love her lower register, or at the very least performances like in Waters rising, where the high intense almost crying tunes are used sparingly, to punctuate certain moments. But unfortunately that is rarely the case and she taps into the latter register quite often, to the point where she becomes exhausting and even grating. It’s a real shame, because she’s amazing and one of my favourite vocalists, but I really don’t like what she’s doing with her voice in Starlight and ash. It’s too much and too meowy and it’s even more egregious when you hear moments like The house of the rising sun, which is an absolutely vocal treat, and you know how much she can shine. 

The second sin in my eyes is that it lacks variation. It kind of ties in to what I was mentioning earlier about always being intense to the point where it loses meaning. If everything is high, is there really a high anymore? But it’s not just that, there’s a sense of uniformity and repetition that is putting me off. I wouldn’t say they’re doing the same thing for each song, there’s blues in The lighthouse, there’s even metal in Just a day (even though they specifically mentioned this won’t be a heavy album), but somehow it all feels the same. And I think the fault lies in the vocal parts. No matter what is going on in the background, instrumentally (and the instrumental *is* beautifully haunting for the most part), there are the same grating whiny inflexions driving the melody. There’s cohesion, and then there’s being insipid, and unfortunately for me this album falls in the latter category. Listening to each track separately, none of them is anywhere near bad. A bit bland, maybe, but definitely not bad. But when you put them together one after the other, I just find myself drifting. 

It all makes Starlight and ash a very frustrating release because, like I said, normally I adore Cammie’s voice. I also love their minor harmonies, the melancholic guitar and their steady somber mood, and when they tap into that side they are so heart-wrenching and beautiful. The first part of Salvation is gorgeous, gives me chills, makes me sink into the atmosphere. And then they go and ruin it all with the moany weepy screams in the end. If they would just let a song be, without all that excess, it would be so much better. They do it with The hanging tree, a track that stands out in particular because it’s so subdued and so gentle and heartfelt from start to finish, and it’s so lovely. It’s my favourite part of the album precisely because it breaks the pattern and just lets me feel and connect instead of bashing me over the head with intensity. 

Let’s be very clear about this, it’s not that the album is not metal. The intriguing part of Oceans of slumber has never been the metal one. In terms of doom, there are far better bands out there. No, it’s always been Cammie’s gorgeous voice and the innovation and freshness of their style. And on Starlight and ash that’s precisely where they miss the mark, it’s precisely the vocals and the “been there, done that” feel that brings the record down for me and it’s made worse by the fact that they managed to take the best part of their music and turn it into the weakest. There is still a lot of beauty hidden, there are moments where I’m so impressed with the instrumental, the atmosphere they manage to create, the touching voice. But the overall feel, the impression I’m left with, is that there’s too much wailing and too little variety. I still have those irritating howls stuck in my ears, I feel tired from all the noise, but most of all I’m just disappointed