Oceano - Contagion (2010)

I’ll put it out there at the start: If you like Oceano, you won’t like this review. I believe that this album pretty much sums up the reasons people hate deathcore - and metal as a whole - quite so much. When talking to a friend who doesn’t like metal and they say ‘it’s just shouting and growling and noise’, I usually disagree. But if their impression of the genre had been formed from this record, I’d find myself nodding in shameful agreement.

This really is a case of ‘it was good, until the music started’. They do drop some okay breakdowns, but nothing exceptional. Besides, I’m yet to hear a deathcore band that can’t play their down tuned open chords a little bit slower than they were a moment ago. Maybe someone can explain to me, then, why Oceano are one of the biggest deathcore bands around.

It’s unbelievably unoriginal. It is pretty ‘br00t4l’, and I can imagine some of the songs being alright live. Seriously though, being able to predict exactly what a song is going to do next to the note is just boring. The whole ‘tried and tested’ deathcore template simply doesn’t work anymore. There is no way of telling Contagion from any other deathcore record around. Literally, the guitars and drums are toned and played the same way as every other band. The vocalist growls. They play breakdowns in unbelievably predictable time signatures. They pig squeal really badly. Even the album cover is cliché.

There are a few bands that can get away with playing fairly predictable deathcore, including Whitechapel and Despised Icon. They somehow make it their own. The same cannot be said for Oceano. Not a lot can be said for Oceano in fact, other than ‘what the hell were Earache thinking when they signed these guys’, because in reality the only thing that may distinguish them from your average Joe deathcore is the professional production. Money well spent? Nah.

The Album is only 38 minutes long, but it feels like a lot longer than that when you listen to it. The best thing about listening to it all the way through is the ending: Silence has never sounded so good. If you’re unfamiliar with this band, lucky you. Keep it that way.


2/10

1. Precursor to Enslavement
2. Viral Re-Animation
3. Regulated Disposal of Life
4. Quarantine
5. The Contaminated
6. Exist in Confinement
7. Persuasive Oppression
8. Weaponized
9. Sadistic Experiments
10. Remnants Aflame
11. Ending Intellect