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Traditional Stoner Rock the way it's meant to be played.-
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| Thinning the Herd: Oceans Rise |
Stoner Rock
St. Mark's Records
April 5th, 2011
- Oceans Rise - 4:17
- Look Behind - 3:02
- Defiler - 4:58
- Chill in the Air - 4:09
- Binge - 4:19
- Wide Crossing - 4:57
- My Wake - 2:59
- On Fire - 6:00
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| Review Information |
Release length: 34:40
Review posted on May 7th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 8.5/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Oceans Rise (2011)
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| EP(s): |
Devil Mask (2009)
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| Review |
Thinning the Heard formed back in 2006 in New York City. While the group has remained a staple underground act for the New York City area, word of this band has been slowly spreading across the United States of their strong, no bull Stoner Rock material. The group had recorded and issued an EP in 2009 entitled Devil Mask, which found the band's popularity slowly clawing it's way out of the underground and into more eyes of those wanting some good old fashioned Stoner Rock music. About two years later, this group brings their follow-up release, the full-length album entitled Ocenas Rise, to their underground fanbase once again, but manages to create an album that is sure to find many working hard to pull the band from their deeply rooted ways and into a more apparently spotlight for the fans.
If you were actually unaware that this group was a Stoner Rock band, chances are good you would automatically assume they were some kind of Black Metal band judging by the grey artwork and typical font for that style. Instead, what is presented is some catchy, talented, and often emotional Stoner Rock that seems to have some strong Blues input at times. After a brief introduction of a waves crashing sound effect, the title track "Oceans Rise" hammers in with it's slower pace and early Stoner Rock sound that bands like Pink Floyd would greatly enjoy. The vocals feel rather powerful and can be a little emotional, this being where the Blues aspect mentioned comes into play outside the powerful guitar solos that capture the emotion of the music nicely. The song is paced well from start to finish, though the abrupt start of the track feels a little rough, but winds up finding the band redeeming themselves from it.
All of this is captured by the overall quality being a little more raw, but at the same time feeling rather thick thanks to the more traditional Rock distortion used. All of these sound a little more analog, and are a little further in the back of the mix, really pushing an emphasis on the vocals here, which seem to take on an Alice in Chains approach, especially on the track "Look Behind" with it's heavier and somewhat quicker pacing that coincides with a more traditional and modern Rock song. The bass is what really stands out on this recording, and at times really becomes important, acting as an additional layer to the music and not just to support the guitars. This becomes rather prominant during the guitar solos where it picks up the pace to match the faster lead guitar, and nicely fills in the gap that you'd expect a rhythm guitarist to pick up.
There aren't a great deal of faster, upbeat tracks, and that's actually a good thing. While "Look Behind" is a catchy track that could instantly become a lead single for this relase, and "Binge" has a strong Grunge vibe to it that one might expect from garage bands in the nineties, or acts like Nirvana, but still manages to retain a solid old-school Rock vibe with a hint of heavier Stoner Rock for good measure, the slower tracks really capture that true Stoner Rock essence with slower, heavy sounding music pushing a classic Rock approach. "Chill in the Air", for example, is a song you can kick back and get lost with in any fashion. The music is spellbinding with it's slower pace and simpler chords that are heavy enough to make you take notice, butsimple enough that they create a relaxing atmosphere. However, sometimes the very emotional and energetic vocals can do some damage, such as with this song where the vocals gradually build up to a louder and stronger performance, though the music did not necessarily call for it, or even require it. It nicely shows the abilities of the vocalist whenever it happens on the song, but the general atmosphere feels a little off during that, even though the chorus is perfect with the softer clean singing that utilizes a simple chorus of repeating the same line throughout without suffering from severe repetition.
Aside some of the more upbeat tracks taking away from the great Stoner Rock atmosphere the band manages to set up on songs like "Oceans Rise" and "Binge", there's one more thing on this release that doesn't quite work as well as one would hope. Sure those songs are fun and have a great beat, but with "Wide Crossing", this nearly five minute song utilizes a spoken word audio sample of a man setting up some kind of trap with a window, and when someone goes through the window, something happens to them. Sadly the clip doesn't specify what will happen other then a mention of the man's intentions to what he is doing, which of course reflects the band's name when he responds, "I'm thinning the herd." The sample feels like it's going on for quite some time too, longer then it should, and there's a good chunk of dead air during it as well from where, in the film (show, or whatever media this clip is taken from) shows the one actor displaying what it will do visually without vocally describing it. When the song finally kicks in, it also takes a little while to really build up, taking on a much slower pace and very heavy sound that feel burdening in a sense, and again, seems to take forever to get through.
Oceans Rise is great example of classic Stoner Rock in modern days. The slower tracks are the crown jewels to the recording, though the upbeat ones still make for great traditional Rock tracks that will be stuck in your head for quite some time. Musically, the album is heavy and full of tracks that will have you wrapped up in the soothing, relaxing vibe, though there's not many will cause you to drift away outside of "Binge" and the closing track "On Fire", another solid track with music that is practically hypnotizing in it's slower pace. With Oceans Rise, it immediately becomes clear why Thinning the Herd is becoming such a popular force for the Rock genre all together, and while it may not be one of the strongest entries in existence, what it brings to the table is well performed material that feels emotional, relaxing, and lacking any sort of gimmick, leaving you with solid music from start to finish. There is still some room to grow for the band, but for now, this underground release is one you should definitely take notice of.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
St. Mark's Records
via Earsplit PR.
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