Ze hebben mijn hart gestolen en ik zal hen steeds blijven steunen, al voel ik het bij deze song niet. Eén van hun troeven is dat het creatieve brein van Dobber Beverly telkens opnieuw geniale vondsten in de muziek van OOS weet te injecteren. De emotie die Cammie met haar flexibele stembanden en inlevingsvermogen weet op te roepen is bijna niet te vatten. Het gevaar bestaat er dan in dat het op een bepaald moment alle kanten uit gaat, maar spijtig genoeg nergens heen leidt. In tegenstelling tot de eerste twee singles kon de cover van Wicked Game me al niet helemaal overtuigen. Spijtig genoeg ben ik hen bij The Given Dream (bijna) helemaal kwijt. Dat ik dit ooit zou zeggen, maar: iets té filmisch deze keer? Niet getreurd echter, het zal wel aan mezelf liggen en wie weet zijn dit de uitzonderingen op hun nieuwe album.
Where Gods Fear to Speak verschijnt op 13 september 2024 via Season of Mist.
Luister ook naar: Poem of Ecstasy Where Gods Fear to Speak Poem of Fire
Lees
"The Given Dream" awakens with a familiar sense of dread. A dark, ominous synth blares over the speakers with the creeping suspense of an IMAX movie.
"We were watching a lot of dystopian sci-fi films and TV shows", Dobber Beverly says about the inspiration behind Where Gods Fear to Speak. The underground will always recognize Dobber as the drummer for grindcore legends Insect Warfare, but he's also a classically training pianist who composed every note on the album. "I had just bought a Le Gibet synthesizer" he continues. "Hearing the big stabbing synth lines that are in a lot of those soundtracks gave me the idea to open 'The Given Dream' as if an alarm was going off in the listener's head".
"We're pre-programmed with this dream of how our lives are supposed to turn out", Dobber says. "The white picket fence. A career at the tech company down the road. Two and a half kids to go along with the 'Live, Laugh, Love' poster on your wall".
"Buying into that idea will make you feel like you're on the right track", says Cammie. "When really, we're just blinded. That dream doesn't exist".
The faraway glimmer of the song's gorgeous piano melody is one of the most intoxicating lines on Where Gods Fear to Speak. "If you're lucky enough to come from a higher standing, then maybe you do get to live out that fantasy", Dobber says. He's not blasting "The Given Dream" -- at least, not on his kit. The song is afforded one of the sparest, most streamlined arrangements on the album. A thumping back beat sets a workmanlike pace, but the syncopated snare crumbles like hope through your fingers amidst a glitch of digital effects. "But if you've got to struggle, then it's a lot harder just to survive".
"You stare and you stare" Cammie belts, steeling herself between each word before she bangs her head back against the proverbial wall. She's always possessed one of the strongest voices in metal, but on "The Given Dream", it sounds like she's fighting for air. "It's still empty".
In reality, Cammie did have to catch her breath in order to nail down "The Given Dream". Oceans of Slumber recorded Where Gods Fear to Speak in Bogotá, Colombia, which is a cool 8,000 feet above sea level. "'This is one of the most tiring songs to sing on the album", she explains. "I'm belting from the beginning". When the bottom finally does drop out and the song sinks into a bridge that's as quiet and full of shadows as the ocean floor, it only seems like she's taking a breather. "Going from a belt to soprano back to a belt is not a break" she says with a knowing smile. "Singing soprano takes more breath than singing mid-range or alto. You have to hold your vocal cords tight".
Just like the myth of suburbia, the music industry doesn't always live up to its own hype. Heck, even a genre that's as hellbent on setting fire to the status quo as extreme metal is no angel when it comes to favoring style over substance. With six albums and a decade of touring under their belt, Oceans of Slumber have nothing left that they need to prove, but the band's unwavering authenticity continues to set them apart. All ten songs on Where Gods Fear to Speak were tracked live with GRAMMY-nominated producer Joel Hamilton. Even the digital drum loops on "The Given Dream" were hammered out by hand.
"I played those loops myself in real time, all one take" Dobber says. "I actually like Portishead, Sneaker Pimps and all those other trip-hop bands from the '90s. With this song, I wanted to remake that dub style with a big heavy part at the end".
If their haunting reflection on "Wicked Game" is the chilling end credits to Where Gods Fear to Speak, then "The Given Dream" is one of its many climactic turning points. When the riffs finally come crashing down during the song's grand finale, it's with all the gloom and doom of a raging tempest. "I return to the dust I've known / The circle, the sky / The earth I've called home", Cammie sings with all her might. With this much force, Oceans of Slumber sound like they're ready to tear down the walls and show us into the light.
Lineup
Cammie Beverly - Vocals
Dobber Beverly- Drums, Piano
Semir Ozerkan - Bass
Alex Davis - Guitar
Chris Kritikos - Guitar, Synth
