EVERYONE INTO POSITION

I've been holding off for a while on reviewing this album, because I wanted to be sure that I wouldn't rush in and say the wrong things, not having fully digested the monstrous work. I didn't want to come off as some hectic reviewer so caught up in the rush of something new in his hands that he slaps a quick five stars on it, says some cliche things, and walks away.

No. This album is different. I really haven't ever witnessed something quite like it, especially since the glut of great prog from the 70s. And this album, although still certainly prog, is very distant from those founding prog bands. There are memories of Pink Floyd here, visions of King Crimson, but Oceansize have managed to craft their own sound with great finesse and extreme attention to detail. It is a crazy amalgamation of spacey elements, an alternative rock vibe reminiscent of the 90s and a handful of metal.

It opens with that handful of metal, in one amazing track called "The Charm Offensive". Radiohead fans will recognize the title as one of Yorke/Donwoods sayings on the CD case of Kid A (which 'size is oft compared to), and Vennart, lead vocalist, belts out his own interpretation of the saying. The song alternates between funky bass guitar trade offs in variations of 5/4 and moving chord progressions until it finally breaks free as Vennart belts out "They've sold us out again and thrown us in the fire. They say we're all the same, well yeah... but we're not liars". The 3 guitars, bass and drums all blast one of the most amazing riffs (of course, seeded earlier in the song in great prog fashion) until everything drops away

They follow up this impressive first cut with a less impressive take called "Heaven Alive" An odd monk-like intro segues into their most straight-forward track to date (up their with Effloresce's Amputee and Catalyst), but it still manages to take many varied-yet-related themes and swirl them all around over a very "National Anthem"ic (Kid A again) bass line.

This is followed by their most metal track ever, "A Homage to a Shame", previewed in the form of "One out of nOne" on the Music for a Nurse EP. Grating guitars have never sounded so beautiful. There are moments of rest in the track, especially in what one guesses could be labeled a "pre-chorus" when Vennart harmonizes with the already intricate guitar parts singing to us that our "time is running out"

From this intense attack, we are released into the dark-yet-soothing fields of "Meredith". This track takes a while to grow on you, but the haunting vocals and melodies eventually become irresistible, especially the chorus.

In a similar vein, we arrive at "Music for a Nurse". The mood is still dark, but there's something sweet about it. The lyrics paint a beautiful eulogy for a woman who must know that "everything you touch is blessed and all the richer for your love [...] If I display just a fraction of the soul you showed in this world, then I know I'll see you again" The most moving moment on the record so far, and it brings me to tears quite often. This is Oceansize at their most post-rock, with haunting, looped melodies that build and fall, and eventually explode in a mind-numbing climax, only to fade away into...

"New Pin". Along with "Heaven Alive", this track was released as a single. It is certainly digestible with a looping, evolving electronic part laced over 90s-era guitar lines. But catchiness, despite the rep, is not the hallmark of a poor song. The song manages to evolve in hurricane fashion, cycling between various riffs and harmonies until it fades out on a new electronic line.

"No Tomorrow" took the longest to grow on me of any track on the record. At first I liked its hammering guitar lines, but was turned away by an overly bombastic chorus in the beginning and the metal vibe the song exuded. However, after repeated listens, I have come to love it. The song goes through many phases, from its spacey intro punctuated by sudden, fast choruses to its rocking bridge into the creepy transition, back through a rendition of the bridge, and then into one of the most intense segments of rock music ever recorded. The blasting riff at the end of Charm Offensive is almost dethroned by the pounding bass lines and building, shuffling guitars all under a dark harmonized vocal line. "Find a face, pull it on, pretend there's no tomorrow." Like the buildup in Music for a Nurse gone apocalyptic, the instruments tear through sonic boundaries in explosive manner until you're left gaping on the floor.

From this, they give you a break. "Mine Host" is a very Mogwai-esque piece, built on an electronic voice sample and varying piano and soft guitar lines. The song ends with a great vocal piece and the transitions perfectly into

"You Cannot Keep a Bad Man Down". My least favorite track on the record, this song still manages to rock with a great deal of metal and bombast and a very eerie interlude. Fans of Muse or Mars Volta may find some common ground here, but this track is just not for me. Of course, this is all in relative to the rest of the tracks on the album, because I certainly will never skip this song unless I want to get to the ultimate closer,

"Ornament/The Last Wrongs". I cannot say enough about this song. Like "No Tomorrow", I had to let this song really grow on me, but now it stands as one of my favorite tracks of all time. The long, spacey intro again brings comparisons to Godspeed You! Black Emperor or Sigur Ros, but when the song does the 'size trademark explosion, you're quickly jolted out of the peaceful state they lulled you into. Well, then you're dropped back into it. Maybe they were just kidding. Oh wait, never mind, it explodes again after another minute or so building on the previous sparse intro. Here "Ornament" ends, and "The Last Wrongs" begins. The explosion of music that heralded the end of Ornament transitions perfectly into The Last Wrongs, so well that the seperation between the two movements only becomes clear after repeated listening. Well, that and the start that vocals start soon after this movement does. And beautiful the vocals are, with some of the greatest lyric work I've ever heard. It so perfectly sums up the human situation... and of course, ties the record together perfectly. I am again brought to tears as Vennart sings the final thread in the lyrical theme of the album "Stay asleep now, everyone into position, everyone into their place". Suddenly, everything makes sense. This song cannot be played loud enough, and is one amazing way to close an amazing album.

Well, I know most of you have skipped all the way to here after noting the length of this review so I'm left with this to say: I worry, sitting here now, that there may have been something wrong that I have said. Some slip of the tongue that has turned you away, some forgotten words that leave this review empty. And, if in some way I have not convinced you to buy this record, then I have failed you. Maybe it won't hit you the way it hit me, maybe you'll keep it on the backburner for a while. But at least, i implore you, give this phenomenal album a shot.