[Cover photo credit to Zach Johnson]

Oceans of Slumber are releasing their sixth album this year, Where Gods Fear to Speak, arriving on September 13th, 2024. Since 2011, the Houston band have reframed Southern Gothic by combining Melodic Death, Doom and Black Metal, with elements of Electronica Classical composition added in.

They’ve recently released new dystopian track “The Given Dream” alongside a video.

Where Gods Fear to Speak expands the band’s progressive work to to a cinematic score approach. blockbuster. Oceans of Slumber have toured with Swallow the Sun and Ne Obliviscaris, but their sixth album has more in common with Blade Runner.

Dobber Beverly speaks about the album and new track:

We were watching a lot of dystopian sci-fi films and TV shows. I had just bought a Le Gibet synthesizer. Hearing the big stabbing synth lines that are in a lot of those soundtracks gave me the idea to open ‘The Given Dream’ as if an alarm was going off in the listener’s head.

Regarding recording the album, he adds:

We did the most extensive pre-production demoing that we’ve ever done for this record. Everything was finished, the vocal lines were 98% done in advance. Then we got into the studio and I threw curveballs at Cammie to piss her off and get her to land these certain vocal sections. There has to be some element of this that is created in the moment. It’s not magical otherwise. I did all the synthesizers and orchestrations at home, but then we recorded the rest of it at the studio in Colombia. Joel’s done a lot of work with big hitters, but also with Neurosis and bands like Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. So when I said we were going to make a heavy record, I wanted it to sound like all hell’s breaking loose. We wanted a very natural production and for everything to be as organic as it could be.

To celebrate the release of Where Gods Fear to Speak, Oceans of Slumber are going to perform at the Metal Injection Festival.  

Metal Injection Festival
Sunday, September 22 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Monarch & Meadows