Fortress of My Dark Self

I discovered this Greek band by chance just a few days ago. I came across their lyric-video for the new single called “After a Long Time”. And I stuck with this astonishing song! So I decided to learn more ‘bout the band. So Ocean Of Grief is quite fresh band, they gathered in 2014, based in Athens and their discography consists of one five-song EP (and the newest single of course) yet. What is the main reason for you to be in love with such style as melodic doom/death-metal? Simple heavy guitar riffs? Powerful vocals? Vigorous drum parts? The atmosphere which is achieved due to the skillful use of a keyboard sound? Acoustic passages?

But for me – melody is that very thing that does the trick. And Ocean Of Grief has tons of them! These beautiful leads make my soul unfold ‘till the very last seconds of the final song. And all of the above elements are fully present in the music of this sextet, not allowing you to feel bored even for a mere second! Musical canvas is permeated with the atmosphere of pleasant sadness with a slight touch of melancholy. Lyrics touch upon the very tangible topics - self-hatred, loneliness, grief of losing a loved one. And in the last song there are even quite anti-Christian sentiments (I noticed that this theme is fairly common for the Greeks in general).

The compositional structure of songs does not carry any avant-garde interludes or progressive solos. Everything is clearly within the style but it was a magnificently beautiful performance! Parallels can be drawn to such bands as Slumber, Saturnus and When Nothing Remains. Sound quality is quite good, all instruments can be clearly heard, as well as vocals. However, the drums have an evident “plastic” sound even they have a real drummer, but who doesn’t do “drum-sampling” now, heh?

Overall - a great creation from the Athenians. If you like energetic, melodic, and yet heavy sub-genre of doom-metal – “Fortress of My Dark Self” is what you need. It combines all the elements that can force you to click on the «replay» button after the final song is done. It was a long time since I heard a catchy music. Yes, it was THAT catchy! Can’t wait for a full-length album. I highly recommend you this release and... drown yourself in the Ocean Of Grief!