ALBUM REVIEW: Oddworld – Ocean Grove

Crashing back onto the scene in their characteristic boisterous fashion, Australian nu-metal rockers OCEAN GROVE have unleashed their fourth album Oddworld onto the realms of the Internet. 14 years since their start in the scene, vocalist Dale Tanner, guitarist Matt Henley, bassist Twiggy Hunter, and drummer Sam Bassal marked their official move to SharpTone Records, whilst celebrating the return of Luke Holmes on vocals and Matthew Kopp on guitar in the studio.

There is welcoming nod to the thralls of metalcore and a distinct sexiness across the whole record, made up of drawling vocals, vintage hip hop basslines and melodies that would becon even the shyest of the wallflowers at a show into the crowd out of intrigue. The opener OG Forever and interlude No Offence Detected show off some of the band’s Aussie charm, before sending the listener crashing into Cell Division, a darker twist on the familiar stop-start melodies that OG OCEAN GROVE fans know and love. Across the board, songs are dripping in retro influences like that of the styles of LIMP BIZKIT, and the culmination of this results in the stand out for the album, Fly Away, with it’s catchy holler back choruses and it’s ability to let the listener let loose in the manner they please (pummelled in pit or simply shaking ass).

After this, the direction changes, deeper and darker and more confusing – the track list jumps around and the vibe twists and contorts leading the listener deeper into a mist. Raindrop had the potential to be a sickly sweet serenade however the vocals are heavy and drown the rest of the production. A characteristic of OCEAN GROVE‘s tunes are their upbeat constant thumping nature, however to really contrast and highlight this detail some of the energy would be better strategically held back, such as in the bridge, even benefitting by dropping the production down completely to zero, just to slam on the gas and ramp it back up again. Last Dance does the former perfectly – cleaner, slower, and pushing the envelope of their sound in a creative way.

This album is distinctly darker than some of their previous records and it is very easy to spot the guys’ penchant for nostalgia, My Disaster bringing back evocations of LINKIN PARK for example. There is, however, a fine line between inspired and trying to replicate the formula for the success of bigger eras gone by. Their songs don’t stop the headbanging –Sowhat1999 is a definitely a hyped call to the moshpit – but if you told a crowd that this was an OCEAN GROVE song, eyebrows would be raised and met with a queried ‘huh?’. OTP faces the same fate and there is a cheeky element that feels lost in the band’s attempt to try something new (it seems) with a trap metal song. Whereas fans of BLACKGOLD might love that track, OG fans of OCEAN GROVE may be left unsatisfied as they come to the completion of the record.

Oddworld is an apt name; it is a distinct left turn from OCEAN GROVE‘s adventurous path that gained them their following but has strangely led onto the road more travelled. One can’t help but feel that some of the flair and spunk has died down and been traded in for something that was supposed to feel more experimental but ended up as the reverse and almost being more mainstream. You have to credit the band for consistently attempting to break the mould and with the current state of the world’s affairs, it is understandable why that grungier trait has emerged but cumulatively it lands as little disingenuous. For OCEAN GROVE, this album is certainly that – a bit odd.

Rating: 7/10

Oddworld is out now via ODDWORLD Records/SharpTone Records. 

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