ALBUM REVIEW: Ocean – Death Engine

Surely there is no bleaker time of year than mid January. Holidays well and truly over, the excitement of a new year soon dulled by the realisation that this one will probably be exactly the same as the last, and, at least in much of the northern hemisphere, a blanket of cold and darkness that doesn’t look like shifting anytime soon. If any of that resonates and you’re looking for something to lift your spirits, then you should probably save this record for another time. If, on the other hand, you’re after something that gives voice to just how heavy the world can feel nowadays, you’ll find no finer soundtrack than Ocean by DEATH ENGINE.

For context, this French four-piece have been around a little while now, and they have always had a fairly bleak streak. 2015’s Mud and 2018’s Place Noire both buried chaotic post-hardcore under mountains of sludge and post-metal with excellent results, and now this album takes the latter part of that equation further still. Written against a backdrop of the pandemic, conflict and environmental collapse, and in the aftermath of the band’s brief pause and subsequent line-up changes in 2019, Ocean carries an introspective and emotive weight that goes far beyond the suffocating sludge of the guitars or the palpable anguish of Mikaël Le Diraison’s tortured vocals.

Even on a purely sonic level however, it is still absolutely crushing. While, as mentioned, there has always been a fair bit of post-metal in DEATH ENGINE’s sound – not least in the nine and eight-minute tracks that close each of their previous albums – this one sees them move far more directly into a lane typically associated with bands like CULT OF LUNA and ISIS. A lot of it comes down to their embrace of dynamics, as proven decisively around 30 seconds into second track Leaden Silence as the band come thundering out of a moody guitar intro in a manner that somehow absolutely dwarves the already considerable heft of opener Hyperion.

There’s also often more of a hypnotic power to Ocean which again feels very post-metal. It comes through most of all in the album’s longer tracks, with all three of Pulled Down, Mess and closer Empire unafraid to let their ideas run their course and lull their listeners into a trance. Those first two also offer some of the clearest pictures of the album’s central themes of embracing personal struggle, with the GOJIRA-esque bellows of “Struggle against myself / It’s hell in my head” in the former and the utter despondency of lines like “Don’t watch me” and “Let me fall apart” in the latter providing some of the most lasting and impactful lyrics of the entire record.

Equally crucial, and perhaps the most obvious indicator of the band’s more hardcore roots, is that Ocean maintains an impressive urgency throughout. More than half the tracks get their business done somewhere around the three to four-minute mark, and the whole album clocks in at just over 36 minutes. This brings a significant sense of momentum to proceedings, and ensures that the record hits far more on furious catharsis than anything particularly gruelling or wallowing. The band also manage to squeeze a few surprises into that short space of time – chief among them being sixth track Dying Alone which takes a turn more towards moodier and more melodic post-punk while still maintaining a clear and driving intensity.

It is early days indeed, but DEATH ENGINE have set an emphatic benchmark for apocalyptically heavy music in 2023. No-one in their right mind would dare predict what the next 12 months might have in store, but if you consider yourself a fan of all things bleak and devastating then you would do well to keep this record well within reach for the year to come and beyond.

Rating: 8/10

Ocean is set for release on January 13th via Code Records, Throatruiner and L’Autre Distribution.

Like DEATH ENGINE on Facebook.