“Did you miss me?”
It’s been a while since we heard from the Oceans Ate Alaska camp, hasn’t it? Since the band ushered in the return of original vocalist James Harrison back in 2020 with “Metamorph”, the near-radio-silence from the tech-metalcore outfit has been deafening. After the release of the short, chaotic “New Dawn” earlier this year, though, the gates were open, and it was apparent something was around the corner, though no one knew what, or when. That brings us to now. Needless to say, after the lengthy hiatus, the announcement of Disparity came out of left-field for many. A two-week rollout for an album is about as close as you can get to a surprise release without outright dropping something unannounced, and after the now over five years since Hikari, it’s certainly welcome how quickly this has all come together.
The question remains though: with how sonically diverse the two strikingly contrasting singles were, how exactly is Disparity going to sound, and how does it stack up versus their previous releases? To keep it brief: Disparity feels equal parts concocted of the DNA that Oceans Ate Alaska has seen throughout their releases over the past decade, as well as a set of entirely new ground for the group. Of course, the bouncy, hyper-technical instrumental work of the Birmingham outfit remains firmly intact here, and more refined than ever, but there’s certainly more here to contend with than what seasoned OAA fans would have come to expect.
Primarily, the use of digital sampling plays a huge roll in the dense, textured soundscape of Disparity. This is apparent from the very first track of the record, as “Paradigm” kicks the record off with a floaty vocal sample, firmed up by some low-key percussion, before exploding into typical Oceans Ate Alaska chaos. The opener certainly demonstrates the broader sound of Disparity well, with a mix of Adam Zytkiewicz’s signature melodic lead-work seen more frequently on Lost Isles, as well as brutal amped-up heaviness and aforementioned sample work that defines Disparity’s strongest sonic qualities.
It’s no joke that the heaviness is amped up on Disparity, too – some may find it hard to believe, but “New Dawn” isn’t even close to the chunkiest tune on this thing. Chiefly, mid-album cut “Dead Behind The Eyes”, featuring I Prevail’s Eric Vanlerberghe, is a straight tech-death rager. Reminiscent of the style of melodic and technical death metal most prevalent of the 2000s, injected with some of OAA’s proggy flair, this track will almost certainly catch the wider metalcore world’s attention. Further, the track’s explosive breakdown featuring Vanlerberghe, laying down some seriously fierce deathcore gutturals leaves him sounding more like Joe Badolato than what you’d expect from a typical metalcore vocalist.
“Plague Speech” also stands out in this regard, with potentially the most stupidly slow breakdown I have encountered in all my years. While much of this track is replete with the glorious mathy chaos expected of a “Blood Brothers”-esque number, when the disgustingly down-tempo breakdown hits, it’s apparent this song was written to see just how many people they can get injured in a pit. I genuinely peg the tempo at about 40bpm for this section, and of course it develops into a typically pacey tech-metal affair shortly thereafter. The way in which this track weaves in and out of these vastly contrasting sections should come as no surprise given Oceans Ate Alaska’s penchant for keeping things moving in the most technically mind-boggling way possible, but it’s still just as brain-melting each and every time I hear it.
Moreover, on these tracks, and this album as a whole, it should be no surprise that the standout member here much of the time is drummer Chris Turner. The way this man injects technical grooves, wild blasts and odd metering effortlessly into his playing is the stuff of metal legend. I genuinely can’t wrap my head around some of this stuff, and if someone told me the reason this album took quite as long as it did was because Turner was trying to perfect his drum takes, I would completely believe them, and it would be well worth it.
There are admittedly some minor hiccups on Disparity, primarily in the record’s inclusion of clean vocals. While Harrison provides his strongest vocal performance to date across the board, including in his singing, there are points where the slightly pitchy 2000s-esque vocal inflection takes me out of the album a tad. He’s certainly not a bad singer whatsoever, but sometimes the inclusion alone feels incredibly jarring given just how heavy Disparity is as a whole.
With that said however, Harrison truly does provide one of the strongest performances of the year in his wide range of screaming techniques. The trademark Lost Isles high screams sorely missing from Hikari are back in full-force on tracks like “Paradigm”, “Nova” and “Sol”, and his iconic raspy mid-screams prove to be a highlight on tracks like “Empty Space”, which feels like the album’s equivalent to Lost Isles’ emotionally-charged close “Mirage”. Of course, his mid-low growl range used across much of the record sounds fierce as all fuck, too, but those well-placed moments in which he explores the vocal styles that truly feel his own are what stand out across the record.
With Disparity, Oceans Ate Alaska have returned after five years away with what I believe to be their strongest record end-to-end. Full of all the chunky, melodic, mathy goodness expected of an OAA record, whilst also amping up the brutality and the broadening of the sonic palette through masterful sample work, Disparity is a modern metalcore masterclass. While I do believe many of the clean vocal sections could have been shed, perhaps in favour of allowing the gorgeous lead and synth work to provide melodic texture, that’s a small footnote on an otherwise fantastically crafted, and incredibly dense piece of tech-metalcore.
9/10
Disparity will be available on September 1st via Fearless Records, and you can pre-order the record here. Be sure to also check out our Q&A with the band about the album.