Released on: 8th May 2020
Wind your cassettes back about twenty years to before the magnificent …And Oceans released the decisive A.M.G.O.D. Now imagine that you are expecting a contiguous sound to The Symmetry Of I, The Circle Of O. And voila!
Cosmic World Mother carries the sound from pre-Y2K …And Oceans and continues where The Symmetry Of I left off. Spectacularly. Cutting back heavily on the post-Matrix Industrial pandering on A.M.G.O.D. and from then on. Cosmic World Mother is a defining point in the bands near twenty-five year career; A shapely return to form and a pitch perfect extension of their pre-millennial sound.
Coming from a time when pitch perfect soundfonts were not the norm during production. The substitution of orchestral instruments with synth pads allowed for some experimentation and gave …And Oceans a characteristic sound. These space-age pads and spooky strings are again foundational here. Giving this new album a touch of Vangelis with a bit of Cradle of Filth unto its layers. However it is unmistakably …And Oceans especially with those chords attenuating these riffs.
Any riff is only as good as its rhythm and the blastbeats and the pattern changes give Cosmic World Mother an interesting and elevated structure. There is never, never a dull moment on this album. It will make your heart race, your head bob and leave your soul in cinders.
Perhaps its time or perhaps its the new blood, with Kauko Kuusisalo (Gorephilia,) Antii Simonen (Morian,) and Mathias Lillmåns (Finntroll) all coming aboard to revitalise the dysfunctional brand. Adding their contemporary hoodoo together with …And Oceans veterans it makes for a very exciting line-up. And gladly we really do not have to wind cassettes back.
9/10
