FRAMES

Unlike the albums that preceded it, Frames sounded slightly disappointing at first. I heard flashes of good songwriting, but somehow Oceansize seemed to have lost some of the appeal, diversity and emotionality of the predecessors. As it turned out, this is their first album that has grown on me instead of gradually losing my interest. And that is always a good indication that there are proggy things abound. While I would not really add my voice to the legion of fans who call this their best album to date, it's certainly not less then the preceding ones. Only different.

Commemorative T-Shirt starts as an homage to Oldfield's Tubular Bells. It grows into a captivating epic rock song with beautiful vocals, brilliant drumming and 3 thick layers of guitars. It's one of the first Oceansize songs that doesn't remind me immediately of some other band. Oh yes, they have grown up. Unfamiliar continues the thick guitar tapestries and varies them with catchy and intricate riffing. Again it's remarkable how much they have matured. The verses still have a regular indie vocal line, but the music below it explores more sophisticated areas and time signatures. Quite ironically, even though it's the shortest track here it's a tad too long.

Trail of Fire is another big composition. I sure hear some Porcupine Tree influences here, more so then on their previous albums. If Oceansize didn't want to be tagged prog before, then they sure fully embrace it here. Savant is a welcome rest-point, it's a slowly progressing post-rock study with plenty of spacey guitars and vocal effects, which might be another indication of the Porcupine influence. Only Twin gradually picks up a higher speed again. It's not the easiest track to get into, a lot of gloomy atmosphere is built up during the first half, but the melodic development in the second half could have been better.

An Old Friend is one of the most chilling moments here: brooding minor chords, ghostly whispers and a slowly pounding drum beat. Almost hesitantly, beautiful guitar picking is added on this funeral march. Halfway in, heavier guitars lift up the mood. Not for long, the ending progressively decomposes the sonic texture again, till only the bass note remains.

A bit of creepy feedback builds up and launches into the heavy Sleeping Dogs, featuring complex time signature riffing that is similar to how Porcupine Tree incorporated math rock influences on In Absentia. It has potential but the wilder section with the distorted screams should better have been handled by a guest vocalist with a real death throat. Now it lacks that stroke of real aggression to make it work.

The Frame ends my version of the album. (Even though the package says 'bonus Live DVD', they didn't deem it necessary to add the superior bonus Voorhees!). The Frame hasn't yet convinced me of its qualities, the vocal lines aren't really remarkable. As far as I'm concerned, Voorhees should have been the preferred pick to end the album. It's an 11 minute epic with rich textures, dramatic crescendo's and passionate playing.

This band never sounded much like space-rock to me, more like post-rock or experimental/post metal. This trivial notion is still relevant when it comes to rating the album. It's a 3.5 stars that I would have to round down when comparing it to Floyd masterpieces. However, when compared to similar bands like Tool, Maudlin of the Well and Anathema, 4 stars are deserved.