Oceans of Night The Shadowheart Mirror
by Franco Wissa
Staff Writer
As moody sounding releases go, Oceans of Night’s The Shadowheart Mirror can certainly keep up with the best of them. With lingering, winding musical passageways, complex keyboard and guitar laden choruses all drive home tracks rich with elements of the mystical, the dark and the supernatural.
Built around a fuzzy, distorted sound that is reminiscent of The Gathering’s latest kick ass release, West Pole or Riverside’s bassist’s Mariusz Duda solo project, Lunatic Soul, Oceans of Night’s principal songwriter, Scott Mosher uses the sounds and instruments available to him with full force. The musicianship is technical, precise and extremely well defined. Listening to track 4, “What’s Left of Me,” shows that this is indeed a complex bit of songwriting.
Throughout the drums are deep, heavy and loud, coupled with commanding guitar work, layered keyboards, and vocals that all carry the tunes to points beyond. It must also be pointed out that the talents of multi-instrumentalist Scott Mosher with the phenomenal voice of Scott Oliva can not be overlooked. The lyrics are thoughtfully written that don’t meander with needless words or silly clichés. The CD highlights, “Away From You,” “A Violent Reflection,” “Two Worlds Apart,” “Living in the Past,” “War Inside Myself,” and “New Machine,” will instantly remind one of the musical approach of Tiles, Riverside or Dead Soul Tribe, mixed with the rich textile layering of Sylvan and No Man and the melodic, progressive hard rock of O.S.I.
Mosher has linked the sounds of progressive, metal, hard rock and the orchestral. The music heard here is rich and forceful with the harmonies laying an attitude that towers over the music that is only because of the commanding vocals of Scott Olivia.
It is a hope that in releases to come the band even further experiments with new sounds, pushes the envelope to even newer boundaries and continues to dig deep to bring to the table a CD that explodes with the progressive metal that this band is certainly capable of both writing and playing.
Label: Independent
Track Listing:
Away From You
Living in the Past
New Machine
What’s Left of Me
The Shadowheart Mirror
The Last Goodbye
Two Worlds Apart
War Inside Myself
Band Members:
Scott Mosher – guitars, bass and keyboards
Scott Olivia – lead and harmony vocals
HRH Rating: 8.5/10