OCEANARIUM

I admit that this is the first Dan Britton's thing that I have listened to after the excellent single shot "ALL OVER EVERYWHERE". The first thing that I have noticed is the particular production. It's similar to that of AOE. It's professional but it's like some frequencies are cut. I can't explain as I'm not technical enough. What is clear is that this is how the artist likes it, so take it or leave it.

The album is fully instrumental, with four of the 8 tracks longer than 10 minutes. The players are skillful, I have noticed very good bass parts, but the album strength stays in the compositions. Complex, never repetitive, jumping from one genre to another but always seamlessly, without sudden changes which usually mean just that two different things have been tied together. It's really "Symphonic".

So, commenting a single track doesn't make much sense, as they contain many different things. I find the beginning of the second track "Drifting Inner Skyline Space" paerticularily interesting for its subtle darkness without being dissonant and its transition to something different. In this track the unusual production works very well.

Also the use of intruments like oboe, which temporarily replace the bass on the first track, the bass clarinet on track 3 and the violin on tracks 4 and 5 deserve a mention. They aren't the only guests, by the way.

The high quantity of instruments not very usual in the rock world, is a consequence of the complexity of the compositions. So it's an album that can't be put in background. It's not difficult nor challenging, but requires attention also in order to fully appreciate the excellent arrangements.

My personal favorite is "Marooned and Torn Asunder".

I have read on Bandcamp that this should be a sort of "extract" from a 7 albums "instrumental concept" which will maybe be completed during the next years. The first of the serie is Heliotians.