Out Oceans are a band who take their time. The Dutch trio first released a record in 2015, following it up in 2020 with their Long Branch Records debut and now after another five years they look set to beguile again with third full length record Right Here, Right Now.
Formed by Tymon Kruidenier (vocals/guitar), he's joined by bassist Robin Zielhorst and drummer Yuma van Eekelen, all three were part of prog metal/jazz fusion band Exivious and the bring that virtuosity to Our Oceans but they move further away from metal with this new record, embracing prog rock, shoegaze and post rock for some expansive soundscapes.
The info around this cites some singer/songwriter tendencies and that's true with the reverbed guitars and vocals on Just Like You which is an atmospheric, introspective, dreamscape, from the Steven Wilson songbook and there's a strong link to a band such as Flying Colours too on Drifting In The Drops, where they revisit their jazz fusion roots.
Having been a band who dwell in the sadder side of things on their two other albums, this third record is more upbeat, there's bright, optimism at the heart of every track, especially on the powerful Sun Stained Waters where the likes of Plini creep in to the solo and also on Untamed where everything takes a turn towards the band 3 (go check them out).
They're a band who also collaborate adding a female vocalist to If Only which leads into the euphoric Abloom to end. If not heard anything from Our Oceans before listening to Right Here, Right Now, but this third album is an impressive collection of upbeat prog rock. 9/10
Reverya – Affliction In Bloom (Self Released) [Simon Black]
When this record started to unfold, I was somewhat cautious. Starting with the gentle instrumental Allium, and then unfolding into the opening segment of Wisteria, I thought I had a fairly run of the mill Progressive Symphonic record on my hands.
Now I’m sitting up and taking notice…
Although the bass is effectively delivered through the keyboards and some absolutely brutal drum lines from Kaleb when things turn heavy, this band have very effectively fused the lighter Symphonic touches with the insanely heavy brutality with an album that pretty much flows as a single piece of music for the first three songs, before things head into Power ballad territory with the haunting Forget Me Not, albeit a power ballad where the razor blades lurk just below the syrup.
And they are so young, and so technically gifted to boot. From the haunting and ethereal moments counter switched to the brutally nightmarish, knot together with some of the tightest musicianship I have seen from a three piece in a long time, this album slapped me in the face and made me listen. More importantly it made me want to listen to more, a lot more… 9/10
Bonginator – Retrodeath (Testimony Records) [Spike]
Let’s be honest: when a band is called Bonginator, and their genre is self-described as "Two-Stepping Neon Weed Death," you should already know if you’re invited to this party or not. If you showed up in a clean polo and a sensible haircut, you're looking at the wrong door. This is maximalist, brain-melting, hyper-violent fun stitched together from '80s VHS detritus, synthwave nostalgia, and riffs chunky enough to qualify as concrete demolition charges.
This second album, Retrodeath, isn't just a sequel; it's the director's cut where the budget was spent entirely on more distortion and faster sequencing. The whole concept is a gleefully unhinged crossing of wires between classic US death metal (Obituary, Cannibal Corpse) and the kind of cheap, neon-pink soundscapes that scored every B-movie where the world ended, but the saxophone player survived.
After the Sequence Initiation (Intro), which sounds like a Commodore 64 booting up in a blast furnace the album snaps your neck with All We Really Are Is Livestock. This track, and the subsequent All Cops Are Biomechs, hit with the immediate, abrasive punch of modern hardcore blended seamlessly with old-school death metal groove. It’s got that two-step pulse, but the boots hitting the floor are armoured.
The band's genius lies in their commitment to the gag. Pizza Time (featuring Vinny Castellano of Belushi Speed Ball) is pure, unadulterated mosh-bait, a frantic, goofy slab of sonic chaos that manages to be brutally heavy and completely ridiculous at the same time. This is the soundtrack to kicking over arcade cabinets and fighting off alien hordes while desperately trying not to drop your slice.
But just when you think you’ve figured out the pattern, they introduce the atmospheric cuts. Following The Fog Interlude, The Fog itself descends not with doom, but with a creeping, synthetic chill, showcasing the synth-wave side of their identity. This is the moment they apply the neon airbrush to their OSDM zombie, throwing in those 16-bit computer game textures that remind you this isn't just about gore; it's about genre-bending, low-fidelity terror.
Lunk Alarm and the crushing Intruder Organism (featuring Fiore Stravino of Fulci) return to the pit, trading atmosphere for pure, serrated riff-work. The guest spots here aren't afterthoughts; they're calculated sonic punches designed to elevate the chaos. The album closes out the assault with Who Let The “Things” (1989) Out and a perfect Outro featuring the legendary sax man Tim Capello from The Lost Boys. If you can't appreciate the irony of a death metal album ending with a muscle-bound saxophone player, you might be taking this far too seriously.
Retrodeath is proof that death metal doesn't need to be tortured and cerebral to be brilliant. It just needs massive riffs, a killer sense of humour, and absolutely zero self-censorship. It’s a riotous, high-speed collision of two entirely different decades, and it works better than it has any right to. Crank this until your brain starts seeing pink and purple static. 8/10
Bergfried - Romantik III (High Roller Records) [GC]
As soon as it starts Dark Wings is exactly what I thought this would be, cheesy 80’s metal with a tinge of power metal drizzled on top, it’s got all the standard make up of and 80’s worship, ridiculous lyrics, harmonized guitars and wailing solos and I’m not really sure what I am supposed to do with this for the next 8 tracks? Look, I don’t know where to start with this as it’s clear you must like this sort of stuff to be objective and know what is happening, I do not know what is going on and this is about as far out of my comfort zone as is humanly possible!
Formed by Tymon Kruidenier (vocals/guitar), he's joined by bassist Robin Zielhorst and drummer Yuma van Eekelen, all three were part of prog metal/jazz fusion band Exivious and the bring that virtuosity to Our Oceans but they move further away from metal with this new record, embracing prog rock, shoegaze and post rock for some expansive soundscapes.
The info around this cites some singer/songwriter tendencies and that's true with the reverbed guitars and vocals on Just Like You which is an atmospheric, introspective, dreamscape, from the Steven Wilson songbook and there's a strong link to a band such as Flying Colours too on Drifting In The Drops, where they revisit their jazz fusion roots.
Having been a band who dwell in the sadder side of things on their two other albums, this third record is more upbeat, there's bright, optimism at the heart of every track, especially on the powerful Sun Stained Waters where the likes of Plini creep in to the solo and also on Untamed where everything takes a turn towards the band 3 (go check them out).
They're a band who also collaborate adding a female vocalist to If Only which leads into the euphoric Abloom to end. If not heard anything from Our Oceans before listening to Right Here, Right Now, but this third album is an impressive collection of upbeat prog rock. 9/10
Reverya – Affliction In Bloom (Self Released) [Simon Black]
When this record started to unfold, I was somewhat cautious. Starting with the gentle instrumental Allium, and then unfolding into the opening segment of Wisteria, I thought I had a fairly run of the mill Progressive Symphonic record on my hands.
Two thirds of the way through Wisteria, the track, the albums and my perceptions promptly switch, never to return. Sure, vocalist and keyboards player Nadine can handle operatic Symphonic vocals, but when the switch comes, she turns on some of the most effective pit of angry hell Blackened screams I have ever heard, and the band kick in heavier than a two-tonne heavy thing.
The first thing that strikes me is that this is going to be a tough gig for a three piece to reproduce live, because it’s so rich and heavy as fuck. OK, anyone can multilayer it in the studio, but I’m of the old-fashioned generation that feels if you can’t reproduce it live without a whopping backing click track, then don’t do it in the studio.
The first thing that strikes me is that this is going to be a tough gig for a three piece to reproduce live, because it’s so rich and heavy as fuck. OK, anyone can multilayer it in the studio, but I’m of the old-fashioned generation that feels if you can’t reproduce it live without a whopping backing click track, then don’t do it in the studio.
A quick jump to YouTube and a shaky live clip or two later and I realise that although admittedly the keys are indeed on a click to free Nadine up to be the frontwoman, this band works it just as heavily and effectively in both settings. Plus, how do they sound this heavy without any bass lines?
Now I’m sitting up and taking notice…
Although the bass is effectively delivered through the keyboards and some absolutely brutal drum lines from Kaleb when things turn heavy, this band have very effectively fused the lighter Symphonic touches with the insanely heavy brutality with an album that pretty much flows as a single piece of music for the first three songs, before things head into Power ballad territory with the haunting Forget Me Not, albeit a power ballad where the razor blades lurk just below the syrup.
And they are so young, and so technically gifted to boot. From the haunting and ethereal moments counter switched to the brutally nightmarish, knot together with some of the tightest musicianship I have seen from a three piece in a long time, this album slapped me in the face and made me listen. More importantly it made me want to listen to more, a lot more… 9/10
Bonginator – Retrodeath (Testimony Records) [Spike]
Let’s be honest: when a band is called Bonginator, and their genre is self-described as "Two-Stepping Neon Weed Death," you should already know if you’re invited to this party or not. If you showed up in a clean polo and a sensible haircut, you're looking at the wrong door. This is maximalist, brain-melting, hyper-violent fun stitched together from '80s VHS detritus, synthwave nostalgia, and riffs chunky enough to qualify as concrete demolition charges.
This second album, Retrodeath, isn't just a sequel; it's the director's cut where the budget was spent entirely on more distortion and faster sequencing. The whole concept is a gleefully unhinged crossing of wires between classic US death metal (Obituary, Cannibal Corpse) and the kind of cheap, neon-pink soundscapes that scored every B-movie where the world ended, but the saxophone player survived.
After the Sequence Initiation (Intro), which sounds like a Commodore 64 booting up in a blast furnace the album snaps your neck with All We Really Are Is Livestock. This track, and the subsequent All Cops Are Biomechs, hit with the immediate, abrasive punch of modern hardcore blended seamlessly with old-school death metal groove. It’s got that two-step pulse, but the boots hitting the floor are armoured.
The band's genius lies in their commitment to the gag. Pizza Time (featuring Vinny Castellano of Belushi Speed Ball) is pure, unadulterated mosh-bait, a frantic, goofy slab of sonic chaos that manages to be brutally heavy and completely ridiculous at the same time. This is the soundtrack to kicking over arcade cabinets and fighting off alien hordes while desperately trying not to drop your slice.
But just when you think you’ve figured out the pattern, they introduce the atmospheric cuts. Following The Fog Interlude, The Fog itself descends not with doom, but with a creeping, synthetic chill, showcasing the synth-wave side of their identity. This is the moment they apply the neon airbrush to their OSDM zombie, throwing in those 16-bit computer game textures that remind you this isn't just about gore; it's about genre-bending, low-fidelity terror.
Lunk Alarm and the crushing Intruder Organism (featuring Fiore Stravino of Fulci) return to the pit, trading atmosphere for pure, serrated riff-work. The guest spots here aren't afterthoughts; they're calculated sonic punches designed to elevate the chaos. The album closes out the assault with Who Let The “Things” (1989) Out and a perfect Outro featuring the legendary sax man Tim Capello from The Lost Boys. If you can't appreciate the irony of a death metal album ending with a muscle-bound saxophone player, you might be taking this far too seriously.
Retrodeath is proof that death metal doesn't need to be tortured and cerebral to be brilliant. It just needs massive riffs, a killer sense of humour, and absolutely zero self-censorship. It’s a riotous, high-speed collision of two entirely different decades, and it works better than it has any right to. Crank this until your brain starts seeing pink and purple static. 8/10
Bergfried - Romantik III (High Roller Records) [GC]
As soon as it starts Dark Wings is exactly what I thought this would be, cheesy 80’s metal with a tinge of power metal drizzled on top, it’s got all the standard make up of and 80’s worship, ridiculous lyrics, harmonized guitars and wailing solos and I’m not really sure what I am supposed to do with this for the next 8 tracks? Look, I don’t know where to start with this as it’s clear you must like this sort of stuff to be objective and know what is happening, I do not know what is going on and this is about as far out of my comfort zone as is humanly possible!
Fallen From Grace might possibly be one of the cheesiest 4 minutes ever recorded and honestly, I am just sitting here wondering how to give an opinion without just being honest and saying that I really don’t like it at all? Musically it’s totally over the top and needs to be heard to be believed and the vocals and lyrics are actually the most cringe inducing thing I have may have ever heard in my entire life.
Queen Of The Dead does have something about it, the pacing is a little more metal, I mean it’s not like its heavy in any way but it’s just more direct and to the point I guess? The fantasy themed lyrics really make me want to just curl up into a ball and die because what are they even going on about? Grown people should not be writing lyrics like this, it’s just total nonsense and if this helps you escape from reality who am I to tell you not to like it but me? No thanks!
For The Cursed is what every 80’s theme album builds towards the big sugary ballad that allows lighters to be held aloft and perms to be accidentally set on fire, it has everything you would expect, keyboards, twinkly guitar work, soaring vocals, a big chorus and a big old solo thrown in at the end, all boxes are ticked and I’m sure everyone involved is very happy with themselves.
Gates Of Fate is another metal adjacent track with some nice guitar work in places but that’s about as much as I can pick out because everything else just makes me want to burst into laughter, I like my music heavy, dark and ugly this is the complete opposite, melodic, bright and cheerful and I struggle to believe that people actually listen to this as a choice?!
Serenades sounds like it will be the second ballad on the album but then breaks out into a more rambunctious pace and brings it more towards something you would hear at some European festival sort of mid second stage level Tears Of A Thousand Years brings back the cheesiness and ramps it up to 100, and I can just imagine the music video for this track would be an absolute masterpiece if it ever gets released as a single I will definitely be watching!
Crossed Love is then the second ballad that had been previously threatened, it has a bit of darkness about it but not in a way that makes it interesting, in a way that makes it even more unbearable to listen to than ever! Back for More rounds off what has been an experience I hope I don’t have to re-live anytime soon with one last slice of sugary 80’s pop metal that really does have to be heard to be believed and the lyrics of ‘I couldn’t take it anymore’ couldn’t be more apt really and then thankfully for me its all over. 4/10
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