Ocean Grove – ODDWORLD (Album Review)
Ocean Grove – ODDWORLD
Released: November 22, 2024
Line Up
Dale Tanner // Vocals
Twiggy Hunter // Bass & Vocals
Sam Bassal // Drums
Online
There aren’t too many more divisive sub genres than Nu-Metal. The combination of rap/hip hop influences with downtuned guitars doesn’t always sit right with frowning metalheads. For a band that has pushed boundaries and experimented on their previous albums, Ocean Grove’s fourth LP sees them return to their roots with a lot of rapping. ODDWORLD is aptly titled as it draws on not only early 2000s nu-metal, but arena rock and hardcore in ways that ensure most songs feel different to one another without sounding out of place.
As an intro track, ‘OG Forever’ is certainly a throwback to the sonic experiments that bands like Slipknot and Korn indulged in, setting an appropriate tone that segues into ‘Cell Division’. It’s a bruising mosh-happy tune using clean vocals over an industrial rhythm. ‘Fly Away’ then is our first dip into nostalgia with some fast flowing rhymes, scratches and a gang mentality that makes the clean chorus infectious.
‘Stunner’ starts in an entirely different direction, with a sweet bass line and crooning vocals that are more Pharrell Williams than Fred Durst. It’s one of the catchier songs on the record and I’d say it’s a refreshing lyrical topic for the scene, since it’s about a hot girl rather than childhood trauma, a dystopian hellscape or failing social structure. The good vibes continue with the arena ready ‘Raindrop’, which is the most alternative rock track here. Hell there’s even a whistle in the intro (yes, a coach’s whistle) and it works. While these experiments help the album along, less successful is the skit track ‘No Offence Detected’, which did nothing for me.
Metalheads can get around ‘My Disaster’, which features more screams – despite the hip hop verses. It very much captures an early millennium sonic aesthetic, when songs like this got mainstream radio play. It’s followed by a slow ballad, ‘Last Dance’, that draws on trip hop beats. The mellow first verse builds to an emo chorus. Didn’t sit with me until I’d heard it a few times but it’s a nice change of pace.
Up next is the more experimental ‘Sowhat1999’, which combines hard hip hop with elements of EDM and metal. It lacks the great hook of that album’s earlier tunes, and I probably tuned out a bit on repeat listens. I’m not totally sure what to make of the final track, ‘OTP’, which features New Babylon and Adult Art Club. It’s primarily a straight hip hop song, built on beats and distorted vocals. It’s pretty far removed from the first couple of songs but doesn’t feel out of place overall.
ODDWORLD is an appropriate title. Some of the creative choices are a bit odd in the spirit of being experimental, but it’s remarkably cohesive in spite of the genre shifts or combinations. Fans of their debut (or rap/metal in general) will dig the throwback aspects.
Ocean Grove – ODDWORLD tracklisting
1. OG FOREVER
2. CELL DIVISION
3. FLY AWAY
4. STUNNER
5. RAINDROP
6. NO OFFENCE DETECTED
7. MY DISASTER
8. LAST DANCE
9. SOWHAT1999
10. OTP (ft New Babylon & Adult Art Club)
Rating: 7.5 / 10
ODDWORLD drops November 22 on ODDWORLD / SharpTone Records. Pre Order here.
Review by KJ Draven (Instagram)
This piece was created as part of the 2024 Music Writer’s Lab Commissioning Fund
