The Houston metal band are performing their upcoming new album at Metal Injection Festival and Mad With Power
"One of modern metal's brightest hopes" - Metal Hammer
"A band that nails a unique balance and has the potential to do whatever they want" - Angry Metal Guy (4/5)
"Masterful compositions that reveal more secrets with each listen" - Metal Injection (9/10)
"Dark, turbulent, and above all, incredibly emotional" - New Noise (4/5)
"They are the new Southern gothic, and you need to pay attention" - Distorted Sound (9/10)
"This band is truly something special" - Ghost Cult (8/10)
Since their star turn in 2016, Oceans of Slumber have included a cover song on all of their albums. As expected for a band that defies any and all conventions, the list of covers spans far beyond the metal realms, ranging from goth to blues rock, baroque pop and classic American folk.
While they always planned on ending their upcoming eighth album with another cover, a last-minute change of heart led Oceans of Slumber to revisit Chris Isaak's signature sleeper hit. By stripping the song down to its chilling core, the band turned "Wicked Game" into the dark and doomy end credits score to the dark, cinematic Where Gods Fear to Speak.
Hear Oceans of Slumber cover Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" BELOW.
Where Gods Fear to Speak comes out September 13 on Season of Mist.
Pre-order & Stream
https://orcd.co/oceansofslumberwheregodsfeartospeakalbum
"Wicked Game" was on Oceans of Slumber's list well before Where Gods Fear to Speak. But when the Houston metal band arrived in Columbia to record their new album with GRAMMY nominee Joel Hamilton, they had already decided on covering the country-meets-Brill Building staple "Crying". Which would've made perfect sense; after all, Roy Orbison was a fellow proud Texan.
"I'm sure we'll cover 'Crying' at some point down the line", says Cammie Beverly. "But in the end, this album called for something more unexpected".
Oceans of Slumber's well-laid plan for finishing Where Gods Fear to Speak changed during their last session at Audiovision Studios. Having already recorded for nine and a half hours straight, the band were running out of time and energy. "My voice was so tired", Cammie reveals. While she's blessed with one of the cleanest and strongest set of pipes in all of metal, this album challenged her to flex a guttural new muscle: death growls.
"I had just recorded the demo for the hardest song on the album", Cammie continues. With its dizzying high notes and crushing, demonic lows, it's no wonder "Poem of Ecstasy" left even a powerful singer like her both physically and emotionally drained. "It was really frustrating", she remembers. Unsure whether her voice could summon The Big O's sweet, booming crescendo, at the final hour, she consulted with her husband and drummer Dobber Beverly. "We realized that the album needed to end on a note that was still familiar but also a bit unsettling".
Luckily, Dobber had just the right song in mind. "When we were in Columbia, I heard a club remix of 'Wicked Game' while out at a restaurant", he says with a smile. "It was so bad that I needed to go and make things right in my head". The band didn't have a moment to spare, either; like all of the songs on Where Gods Fear to Speak, they tracked this cover live, nailing the final take within their very last hour of studio time.
All jokes aside, "Wicked Game" proved to be a match made in heaven with Where Gods Fear to Speak. Chris Isaak wrote and released "Wicked Game" as a single off his third album in 1989, but the song didn't climb all the way to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 until an Atlanta radio host heard it featured in David Lynch's 1990 romantic crime drama Wild at Heart. As its spellbinding title track unveiled, Oceans of Slumber still deliver more of the fiery death, doom and black metal that long-time fans have come to expect, but this new album expands their progressive vision to dark, cinematic heights.
"We've taken the raw and heavier direction of our last two albums and elevated it to the scale of a blockbuster IMAX movie", says Dobber. "Our cover of 'Wicked Game' is the song that plays over the end credits".
Still, it wouldn't have been all that surprising if Oceans of Slumber had stuck with the dazed, vaguely tropical vibe that Isaak nailed on the original version of "Wicked Game". After all, they had just spent two weeks soaking up Bogotá's sultry, sunny atmosphere. Alex Davis adds a lovely Spanish guitar line, but the band's chief composer took the out-of-nowhere hit in a bone-chilling direction.
Underground metalheads will always worship him as the drummer for grindcore legends Insect Warfare, but Dobber is also a classically trained pianist who arranged all 10 songs on Where Gods Fear to Speak. In his well-calloused hands, "Wicked Game" proceeds slowly, gracefully, as if welcoming a ghost, which allows Cammie plenty of breathing room. "No, I don't want to fall in love", she sings amidst the softest reaches of her upper register. Chris Kritikos joins in on back vocals, recasting the song's memorable refrain into a haunting coda of the doomed romance at the album's heart.
"With 'Wicked Game', we're sending the characters off into the sunset with a cliffhanger", says Cammie and Dobber. "Nobody loves no one".
To celebrate the release of Where Gods Fear to Speak, Oceans of Slumber have three special performances planned for later this year.
In August, Oceans of Slumber will battle alongside their new label mates Oak, Ash & Thorn at Madison, Wisconsin' Mad With Power Festival. The band will then reconvene with producer Joel Hamilton at Studio G Brooklyn, where they'll treat a small but lucky group of fans to reimagined versions of new and old classics.
"During this exclusive evening at Studio G, we'll be graced by esteemed guest musicians and a captivating string quartet", Dobber says. "Each song will be reinvented, breathing new life into the songs our fans cherish".
Come September, Oceans of Slumber will join forces with fellow Houston heavies Necrofier at Metal Injection Festival.
"We are thrilled to celebrate Metal Injection's 20th anniversary at this year's festival", says Cammie. "We'll be sharing the stage with amazing bands like Jinjer, Converge, God Forbid, 3 Inches of Blood, Hanabie, Cave In, Rivers of Nihil and our good friends in Necrofier. We can't wait to rock out with you and hit the streets of New York City".
Mad With Power Festival
Saturday, August 3 - Madison, WI [TICKETS]
Live at Studio G w/ String Quartet + Special Guests
Saturday, August 10 - Brooklyn, NY [SOLD OUT]
Metal Injection Festival
Sunday, September 22 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Monarch & Meadows [TICKETS]
Lineup
Cammie Beverly - vocals
Dobber Beverly- drums, piano
Semir Ozerkan - bass
Alex Davis - guitar
Chris Kritikos - guitar, synth
Recording
Audiovision Studios in Bogotá, Columbia
Assistant engineering at Audiovision by Deyra Castillo and David Dueñas Piña
Production
Produced and engineered by Joel Hamilton
Mixed by Joel Hamilton at Studio G in Brooklyn, New York
Additional engineering by Chris Kritikos
Assistant engineering by Justin Termotto
Artwork
Giannis Nakos - Remedy Art Design
Biography
Dom Lawson
Follow Oceans of Slumber
https://oceansofslumber.com/
https://oceansofslumber.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/oceansofslumber/
https://www.instagram.com/oceansofslumber/?hl=en
https://www.youtube.com/user/oceansofslumber
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2JSza6IRxLr1Ez3wqKd0SY?si=aWrsTRHCSCemMNRQaSk5tw
Pre-order & Stream
https://orcd.co/oceansofslumberwheregodsfeartospeakalbum
Available Formats
Digital Download
CD Digipack
2X12" Vinyl Gatefold (Black)
2X12" Vinyl Gatefold (Translucent Red)
2X12" Vinyl Gatefold (Translucent Clear)
2X12" Vinyl Gatefold (Orange with Black Splatter)
2X12" Vinyl Gatefold (Translucent Orange)
2X12" Vinyl Gatefold (Color-In-Color Translucent Orange)
2X12" Vinyl Gatefold (Color-In-Color Translucent Red)