Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Oceansize - Effloresce CD (album) cover

EFFLORESCE

Oceansize

 

Psychedelic/Space Rock

4.05 | 309 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Tristan Mulders
Prog Reviewer
5 stars Oceansize - Effloresce

During the last two years or so there have been only a few bands that really managed to impress me. Manchester-based Oceansize was one of them. I never heard anything like it before and absolutely loved their music since the first time I heard it.

During the first few weeks it almost seemed as if I had the CD on repeat. It was everywhere, on my computer, in my CD-player, on my mp3 player, wherever I went. there was this Effloresce album. And, approximately a year on, I still enjoy listening to it.

So, what's all the fuss about? Well, there's this new British band, which happens to make progressive oriented music, without any keyboards! What you say, prog without any keys??? Yes, that's exactly what it says and believe me the keys aren't missed at all!

Right from the start of the album you know what to expect: straightforward rock music with 'raw' vocals (sometimes they sound like the vocalist of Tool, other times they are a bit like the vocalist of Sigur Rós!). The music is layered with three different guitar lines, one per guitarist. Where the instrumental opening track I am the morning is still pretty gentle, the mania really starts of with the second track Catalyst. This songs starts with the three guitarist playing three different melodies IN STEREO! One guitarist is playing a riff on the left speaker, the other one is completing this riff on the right speaker, which gives the impression as if the guitar is circulating from left to right and visa versa and the third guitarist is playing a completely different riff in the centre of both speakers!

This is really typical for their music; all guitars are playing different things. More than a year on I still hear sounds and melodies in their music that I had not noticed before!

Not all songs are as heavy as the "Catalyst" song, but most songs progress within its running time. A good example of this is my favourite track of this album, the song Massive Bereavement. This 10 minutes lasting song starts of with a percussive loop accompanied by really weird guitar sounds and is very mellow for about the first four minutes, when a musical interlude starts which reminded me of the ending section of PINK FLOYD's song 'Echoes', but here it includes guitars. This section ends abruptly be a weird guitar sound, which indicates the change in direction of the track. The last section is up-tempo with great vocals. The song ends with a massive wall of guitar crushing in.

The short instrumental songs Rinsed and Unravel are welcome breaks between the heaviness of some of the songs. They are both very mellow and atmospheric. Unravel features some piano though, but overall there's no use of keys in the music presented on this disc.

Long forgotten has to be one of the most impressive closing tracks I have ever come across. So laidback and very emotional. This song includes guest musicians on cello, violin and viola, which give the music a very dramatic atmosphere. Weird thing is that the drums seem to be living a life of their own. Not only in this song, but also on the whole album in general. They seem to be quite contradictive to what the other instruments are playing at the same moment, but what is even weirder is the fact that it totally fits their sound scapes! I have seen Oceansize live a couple of times and this guy is so good on the drums!

As a small note, if you are interested in this album, try to find the special edition. This edition is a digipack, which comes with amazing artwork! The digipack is one of those foldout types. You can extend it in four directions with the CD in the middle, including a part of the artwork printed on the disc!

I have nothing more to say about the music on this album actually, this album is simply very special in my point of view. What's most special to me is that it is a sonic journey on itself. From the first sounds until the last notes, it feels like a trip to me. I love to listen to it at night with my headphone on, most lights down, enjoying a beer.

Tristan Mulders | 5/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this OCEANSIZE review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.