Being As An Ocean Offer Catharsis And Peace

It goes to show how cool this world can be. One year you’re a teenager alone in your bedroom, longing for better days and peace of mind. It’s the earlier days of Spotify… before Spotify Wrapped, but you know you’ve listened to this one band for hundreds of hours straight because they kept your head on straight in the darkest of days.

And then one day… over a decade later, you’re writing about music, about that one band who you looked up to as a kid. Not only are their live performances everything you’ve dreamed, you’ve seen them twice, nearly a decade apart, and they still instill that sense of calm that you always felt when listening to them. Your Spotify Wrapped still shows them as a top artist of yours. Even your friends can’t believe how much you listen to this band. And you can’t help but feel a little silly writing this on an article about them.

It’s here. Being As An Ocean is back with another intense and cathartic album, titled fittingly, Death Can Wait. While still paying homage to their prior releases, all in one; they’re better than ever before. Electronic ambient tones remain an addition to their originally bare-bones vocals, creating a blend of melodic post-hardcore that is entirely their own. The live drums are back. Oh how they were missed so sorely. The clean vocals mesh with gritty screams that cry out every unexpressed feeling you’ve ever felt. Only Death Can Wait is not only heavy, but it sets the soul at ease. As of February 5th, it’s out on all listening platforms.

Since forming in 2011, Being As An Ocean has cemented themselves at the forefront of alternative music with their raw, earnest songwriting and boundary-pushing sound. Across six studio albums and countless tours, the band has built a devoted following and left an indelible mark through the comfort and strength offered in their inspirational lyrics and emotive musical landscapes.

Eleven years after their famous debut album Dear G-d… the Californian band commences the next chapter of their musical journey with their new record. And it truly is another personal, vulnerable masterpiece loaded with pure emotion.

The first song begins with fan favorite ad libs performed by lead Joel Quartuccio. “Beautiful Agony” offers a poetic relief and a plosive beginning with internal rhymes and external expression. The album continues and builds to a seeming peak at “Swallowed By The Earth” before slowing just a bit to focus on the lyricism and vocals throughout “Purest Love,” “Flesh and Bone,” “Gloom,” and “Snake.” Each track hones on the rhythmic instrumental tones as Joel and Michael’s vocals cascade and weave a vulnerable story unfolded.

We are all given a choice
We will all experience the purest of defeats
Will we let piteous anger consume us
Or remain vulnerable and proudly bleed?

In the face of horror
Be brave, proudly bleed
Anger’s chains will loosen
In the end, you’ll be freed

Don’t let self-pity be your cage
To suffer is human
Embrace the ebb and flow of change
Our soul’s evolution

~ Being As An Ocean, “Swallowed By Earth”

Infectious electric guitar hooks soar in the ears throughout “…Gave It A Voice So My Heart Can Speak.” And you’re fully gripped in to the experience the composition that the song brings. Michael McGough’s vocals shine through the soundscape beautifully in this track in particular. While keeping the same emotional pace, each instrumental breakdown in the album continually releases just a bit more unexpressed feeling. Vulnerable lyrics seep into the being and offer a catharsis unmatched by many heavy-hitters in the scene. There is healing in each word that’s sung, each strum of the guitar and beat of the drum.

We chatted briefly with Joel Quartuccio about the album shortly before its release. Here’s what he had to say about the album:

I hope that they allow it to have its affect on them, whatever that is. For them to try and be open to its messages, and be open to taking the words and apply it to their life and have the freedom to frame it however they want to frame it. It’s always how I wanted our stuff to be perceived…just to feel something.

We, as usual, look forward to what Being As An Ocean has yet to bring. Stream the new album and stay tuned for updates on the band.