Oceans Of Sadness
The Arrogance Of Ignorance

I have never been a follower of the avantgarde trend within metal, and I thought I would never manage to listen to an album of such genre. But the beauty of "The Arrogance Of Ignorance" captivated me and led me to appreciate a band like Oceans Of Sadness, capable of blending the most varied aspects of metal music (and even something outside of metal) and creating tracks that, despite their complexity, are sufficiently catchy, just enough to suggest a replay.

The opening is entrusted to the compelling "Roulette" which follows a slightly more traditional structure compared to other tracks, but does not hesitate to highlight the myriad shades of the Oceans Of Sadness sound: it goes from prog, to the typical outbursts of black and death metal passing through more melodic heavy.

The more experimental pieces are not long in coming: "Self Fulfilling Prophecy" and especially "Subconscious" exhibit structures that tend to evolve rather than repeat themselves and in "Subconscious" we even have hints of bossanova. Two excellent tracks that prepare the ground for "Some Things Seems So Easy", the real gem of the album, already starting from the title. It can be defined as a doom track, but all the musical and stylistic contaminations that make Oceans Of Sadness an avantgarde group are always present. Here the meticulous attention to details comes to light, just listen to that piano in the last part in growl.

Following "The Weakest Link", which has the same catchiness as "Roulette", and "In The End", which seems to tread paths more properly associated with death metal, thanks to the guest appearance of Johan Liiva (ex Arch Enemy), before evolving into a very melodic and successful climactic finale. Closing the album, we have "From Then On", a gothic-tinged ballad where the singer Tijs Vanneste calls the shots, the chameleonic "Failure", which manages to combine bursts of absolute ferocity with highly effective piano parts, and the instrumental "Hope", a track entirely entrusted to pianist Hans Claes, who here seems to pay homage to Kevin Moore with a mournful ballad.

An extraordinary CD, perhaps the best album of 2008 that has just passed, where the skills of the individuals (especially the keyboardist Hans Claes and the singer Tijs Vanneste) converge in a superlative choral performance. A concentrate of sensations, musical genres, and performance styles like no one had dared before. A production that borders on perfection, allowing the listener to grasp all the details of a work that in its complexity will not fail to excite and involve. All this is "The Arrogance Of Ignorance" by Oceans Of Sadness.