OCEAN OF ILLUSIONS – Nexus

OCEAN OF ILLUSIONS, hailing from New Jersey, deliver a six-track offering rooted in death metal and metalcore on their "Nexus" EP. According to the band, the songwriting process was built around each member bringing their own musical approach to an individual track, with these differing ideas then brought together into a cohesive whole. This approach is important in understanding the stylistic variety across the EP, as there are noticeable differences in character between the tracks, alongside an evident effort to establish a shared musical language.

Choppy guitar riffs, forceful rhythmic accents and breakdowns form the backbone of "Nexus". The harsher vocal approach of death metal meets metalcore's more rhythm-driven, groove-oriented songwriting, while blast beats reinforce the aggressive character of the tracks. The vocal performance shifts between brutal growls and higher-pitched, thrash-inflected screams. Although this variety prevents the vocals from relying on a single mode of expression, it does little on its own to give the individual tracks a distinct melodic identity.

The main problem with the EP's songwriting is that its ingredients remain largely confined to familiar genre conventions. Staccato riffs, breakdowns, aggressive vocal transitions and occasional electronic flourishes are all well-established features of the contemporary metalcore and deathcore scenes. OCEAN OF ILLUSIONS bring these elements together with technical control, but struggle to use them to establish a more distinctive identity across the tracks. The scarcity of melodic passages with a chorus-like quality, memorable guitar motifs and original structural ideas that might set the songs apart causes all six tracks to gravitate towards a largely uniform character. The electronic additions, meanwhile, never become prominent enough to break through that familiarity.

That said, it would be unfair to describe "Nexus" as entirely monotonous. The calm, menacing guitar passage that opens 'Imminent Incursion' remains present throughout the track, providing a different counterpoint to the EP's otherwise densely rhythmic approach. It is one of the more effective indications that the band need not limit its musical expression to sheer heaviness and breakdown-driven passages. Similarly, the thematic connections reaching back to the "Unrecognizable" era, as described by the band, alongside the different instrumental approaches explored on this release, point to an ambition to broaden their musical identity. However, that ambition has yet to translate into a sufficiently cohesive result across the tracks.

The mixing and mastering handled by Dave Ricco point towards a production approach that supports the music's aggressive and rhythm-driven character. The fundamental issue with "Nexus", however, is neither sound quality nor instrumental proficiency. Drawing on different extreme metal traditions is not inherently problematic; the real question is whether those influences can be transformed into a songwriting approach that is distinctly OCEAN OF ILLUSIONS. While the potential for such a synthesis surfaces at various points across these six tracks, the prevalence of familiar riffs and transitions makes it difficult for the band to establish a more recognisable identity of their own.

"Nexus" is an EP that competently delivers the heaviness, groove and breakdown-driven approach familiar to contemporary metalcore and deathcore audiences, but struggles to turn these elements into a lasting musical identity. There are rhythmic passages and aggressive vocal performances that could find an enthusiastic response in a live setting, but the studio material needed more substantial melodic and structural ideas to make the individual tracks stand apart. OCEAN OF ILLUSIONS' attempt to bring together different musical perspectives is worth keeping an eye on in future releases, but "Nexus" shows that considerably more work is needed before this diversity can develop into a truly distinctive identity.

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