Alex Newton's Top 50 of 2013

1. The Ocean – Pelagial

In the wake of The Ocean’s polarizing duo Heliocentric and Anthropocentric, their next album was bound to be a make-or-break affair. With Pelagial, however, those fears about the Ocean’s future can finally be laid to rest. Based around the very cool concept of descending through the ocean, Pelagial feels more natural than anything else by the new lineup. Songwriter and guitarist Robin Staps’ original idea was to start with a clean, ambient “surface” feel and move steadily towards a “distorted and abrasive sound for the doomy depth-passages at the end of the album”. Indeed, the serene major-chord piano of “Epipelagic” sets a tone unlike anything in The Ocean’s catalogue, despite seascape sounds that otherwise whisper of Fluxion’s opener, “Nazca”.

Album Review: Scarred - Gaia/Medea

Album Score: A-

The waves are expected to reach up to ten meters high…the news gets worse: 343 is the confirmed death toll…a volcanic eruption in the east of the country has sent clouds of ash almost three kilometers high…witnesses described the ground shaking before a tremendous explosion…

The inherent risk in sticking close to your influences is that no matter what you create, fans will compare you to multiple bands that that have done it before, and done it better. Luxembourg death metal band Scarred lists Meshuggah, Gojira, and Machine Head as prime influences on its death/thrash hybrid sound, but anyone who is likely to stumble across the group’s second album Gaia/Medea could probably figure that out within about 10 seconds of the opening song’s first riff. It just so happens that Scarred is a rare example of that band that not only does its antecedents justice, but often outclasses their corresponding latest efforts. Fans of L’enfant Sauvage may howl with derision and Unto the Locust’s proponents may beat their chest, but Gaia/Medea is a shot to the jaw of the genre giants that places Scarred squarely on the tech-death podium. Despite the obvious technical proficiency of all involved, there are a number of compositional techniques and production values that make Gaia/Medea a breakthrough effort for the band.