Ocean Grove – Oddworld
Release Date: 22nd November 2024
Label: Sharptone Records
Order/Stream
Genre: Nu-Metal, Hardcore, Rap Metal.
FFO: Linkin Park, Loathe, Incubus.
Review By: Ross Bowie
Aussie Nu-Metal revivalists Ocean Grove are back with their 5th album, Oddworld. The band continue their blend of nu-metal throwbacks, hardcore and arena ready riffs. In a scene that is having its biggest heyday since it’s early 90s inception, Ocean Grove attach their wagon to the freight train.
Oddworld is a short and sweet trip, with the majority of songs just hitting the 3-minute mark, which proves to be both a blessing and a curse for the 3 piece. With the opening 1-2 of OG Forever and Cell Division showing off the band’s ear for big, bouncy riffs and melody, before Fly Away sends you on a nostalgia trip to a time when red baseball caps and dreadlocks ran the world.
The band have garnered a reputation for their energetic live shows and that has bled into the studio, as you can imagine these songs garnering attention across stages as people throw themselves on and off the stage. The approach of blending modern hardcore with fistfuls of 90s throwbacks is an interesting mix but would be more effective if the different corners of their sound were mixed more throughout the record. Often the album takes a more split approach of hardcore leaning track and then nu metal track passing back and forth rather than meeting in the middle. It’s not always a bad thing, as Oddworld does pack highlight moments, but transitioning between these modes could have added some nice flavour across the tracks.
My Disaster is the crowning moment of the album as the band dial up the aggression as the vocals are barked at you and the rapping has real intent as every line cuts away against the riffing, but the song also contains the album’s biggest issue. Having shorter songs can be a positive as it keeps things straight to the point, but if you’re going to make a throwback sound to a scene, then include its best asset, the big build up with the push and pull before a final burst of aggression. On multiple occasions, it sounds like Ocean Grove are locking in and building up to that big stand out drop that more often than not, never comes, things really get going and then just sort of end, and you’re onto the next song. Cell Division, while being a highlight, has all the ingredients of a big scene stealing moment for the band if it just had that one final push to take it to another level. Somewhat 1999 is the only real moment of building tension that pays off with a big smack right across the face as the band let loose with an attention-grabbing moment filled with DJ scratches to boot.
Ocean Grove have made a fun album. You can tell this band comes from somewhere filled with sunny skies and great vibes because Oddworld wouldn’t sound out of place at a heavy themed beach party. The electronics are utilised perfectly, adding texture and filling out the band’s sound, but I’m left wondering what the band’s own sound really is. They wear their influences so bright on their sleeves that it’s hard not to play spot the reference when the next song kicks in. Don’t get me wrong, shouting out “that sounds like Science era Incubus” or “They really went Turnstile on that one” is a good time, but after five albums, I was hoping for a sound that is more uniquely their own. In a scene that is really having its moment in the sun, Oddworld is struggling to find its place at the front of the queue despite not taking any wrong turns. The songs are catchy enough and the production is crisp, but it lacks any real defining qualities that you could pick it out of a line-up.
(3 / 5)
