#10

Ocean "Here Where Nothing Grows" (Important Records)

low and slow, heavy and expansive, this is the sound that i was hoping for from Pelican this year. Ocean is four guys from maine, and this is their first full length i think; three songs about twenty minutes each, working their way through slow motion riffs and from quiet to explosive, w/ a few moments that might even be called pretty (in the way that an approaching thunderstorm can be kind of pretty, w/ the greenish light creeping in, the leaves turning upside down, ominous empty streets. . . maybe sublime is a better word.)

the vocals might turn some listeners off, being typical of the doom genre, growly and creepy and not understandable. they don't last long, though, and taken simply as sound, they perfectly match the mood of the music, which is slightly apocalyptic.

my enjoyment of this kind of thing increases as the days get colder, and if i had to shovel a bunch of snow you can bet that this would be in my headphones.