Rising - "Oceans Into Their Graves" (Album Review) & Exclusive Full Album Stream

By: Phil Weller

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 29/04/2016

Label: Indisciplinarian

Armed with fat, sledgehammer riffs, crafty harmonies and glorious vocal melodies bigger than any giant David and his pesky slingshot could handle, with ‘Oceans Into Their Graves’, Rising have created a monster.

“Oceans Into Graves” DD//LP track listing:

1. All Dirt
2. Burn Me Black
3. Old Jealousy
4. Blood Moon
5. The Anger
6. Coward Heart
7. Death Of A Giant
8. Killers Of The Mind
9. Waste Deep
10. The Night

The Review:

Armed with fat, sledgehammer riffs, crafty harmonies and glorious vocal melodies bigger than any giant David and his pesky slingshot could handle, in ‘Oceans Into Their Graves’, Rising have created a monster.

Sludge metal potency is here merged with a forward thinking, macro consciousness dedicated to creating songs of epic possibilities. Just as you are happily hurtling down a highway of thrash-ravaged Mastodon/Baroness musicality, you are suddenly jerked down a dark alleyway by the scruff of the neck. It’s an album full of surprises, of shock left turns, elevated by its sense of energised inspiration.

But it wasn’t always like this.

2013’s ‘Abominor’ had all the hallmarks of a record tailor made for critical acclaim amongst journalism’s filthy, riff loving inner cult. Yet, despite the intensity and power propelling its compositions down your speakers and into your lug’oles, it fell flat of expectation and desire. It just didn’t have that ability to quicken the heart’s palpitations and dilate your pupils like the artists much of their musical blueprint is drawn from.

It wasn’t a bad album. But in the ever-rapid world of music journalism, unless a record grabs you resolutely by the balls from the off and refuses to let go, it can often be washed away with the tide – forgotten about as soon as the next wave of releases come to shore.

It would be smart of me to write a witty line here about everyone deserving second chances. Perhaps I could quote a much-lauded philosopher or some do-good Bible extract. But, truth be told, it was only after being genuinely blown away, inspired and adrenalised by this album that I did my research, connected the dots and realised that this album was conjured by the same band that had bored me so much with ‘Abominor’. Volumes, in the fact alone, are spoken.

That’s not to say that there is a remarkable difference in the record’s sound, but it presents itself as a more ambitious, imaginative release than its predecessor and it is the cut-throat conviction of each member’s individual and collective performances that make the biggest difference. 

They sound more together, freer and confident in themselves. From the earthquake opening of ‘All Dirt’, with its booming, wrung out chords and heavy tom work onwards, it sounds a complete success. The opening track’s chorus is a triumph in itself, the almost operatic tenor vocals soaring atop the mix and proudly so.

‘Old Jealousy’ is driven by a fast, sharp riff that has its foot firmly on the accelerator. Harmonies bolster the classiness and those enormous operatic vocals again storm in to claim their spoils of war. It’s a real fist-in-the-air kind of song, rich in the kind of anthemic qualities that makes a song like this so damnably convincing, and characterised by a guitar tone that most definitely ate all the pies – and all the better for it.

“Illusion shatters” hollers vocalist Morten Grønnegaard on ‘Waste Deep’ above a pounding snare and venomous guitar motif. It soon releases you into an uplifting chorus, the kind that makes you feel ten feet tall, while never surrendering any of the grit and aggression of the build up.

The graveyard jam of ‘The Night’ and the possessed NWOBHM channelling ‘Death Of A Giant’ round off an album that not only does everything to your senses that ‘Abominor’ simply couldn’t, but makes up for lost time with menace.  

Oceans Into Their Graves” will be released on 12” black 180 grams vinyl and digital formats on April 29^th, and the vinyl version is now available for pre-ordering in Europe HERE and in the US HERE. Check out this stunning album in full  below.  

Band info: bandcamp
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RISING has recently been confirmed for a performance on July 2nd on this year’s Roskilde Festival in their native Denmark, one of the biggest festivals in Northern Europe, sharing the bill with acts such as Sleep, Slayer, Ghost and Gojira. Prior to Roskilde, the band will play a a release show on April 29^th in Copenhagen, and more DK shows and a full European tour will be announced in the months to come.

RISING Live:

4/29/2016 Spillestedet Stengade – Copenhagen, DK *record release show w/ Orm, Fossils

7/02/2016 Roskilde Festival – Roskilde, DK w/ Slayer, Sleep, Ghost, Gojira