During the interview that we had with the drummer and leader of the band, Dobber Beverly, he stated that the new album will be much greater than “Winter”. It’s logical, but I decided not to expect that much. It turned out that I was wrong, as the first promo clips made me eager for it after hearing the new album every doubt quickly vanished away.
Oceans Of Slumber took all they could get from the success of “Winter” and their cooperation with Century Media and after that they wrote an album that will satisfy anyone who believed in them. “The Banished Heart” is another musical journey that lasts one hour and something more. During this, the Texans find once more room to fit all their different influences. Darker and more atmospheric compared to its predecessor, the final result is magical. As for the charismatic Cammie Gilbert, her voice takes the compositions to a whole new level. Her development is obvious and the work she has done is remarkable, as she does whatever she wants and gives an overall terrific performance.
The variety in the songs of course is here again. Doom tempo in the opening “The Decay Of Disregard”, black metal attack on “At Dawn”, death metal on “Etiolation”, emotional and full of keyboards the self-titled, but the highlight is the amazing “No Color, No Light” with the voice of Evergrey’s Tom Englund joining Cammie for a fantastic result. Every song has to offer something different, but at the same time they all sound as part of the same album and not just a collection of songs from various different bands. Progressive metal at its best.
In the end, “The Banished Heart” surpassed my expectations. It’s an album filled with the quality and the talent of a band who doesn’t put boundaries in its music. Their next steps, especially with a record company like this supporting them, will be very interesting.
