Oceans Deep – Reckoning

Oceans Deep are phenomenal hardcore punk band formed on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, but the band itself is comprised of members from all over the US. This is their brilliant debut release published last year after more than a good S/T EP which has been published back in 2017. Reckoning instantly reminded me of a music played back at the very beginings of the millenium and can be best described as a melodic hardcore punk in vein with bands such as Comeback Kid, Bane, Final Fight, American Nightmare, Casey Jones and the rest of the bands who implemented amazing guitar melodies with great rhythm section which are especially characteristic for this type of hardcore music. Vocals are well incorporated over the music and this almost screaming style goes pretty nice with riffs and occasional presence of singalongs also gives a lot to the overall atmosphere. What’s the most important, Oceans Deep know how to balance fast, middle and slow parts in their songs, so Reckoning will not bore you after repeated listening. Production of the album is the weakest part of this band and it seems like some guitar melodies are sometimes unrecognizable, especially in faster sections of the songs. Bass lines are almost invisible under both guitars while the bass drums, toms and snare need more nivelation to give a proper punch to the whole recording. If we put mistakes in production off the way, Reckoning is a very great debut album by Oceans Deep and it’s available for free at bands bandcamp page. I am not sure if this material is published somewhere as a physical release, but it would be a shame if it’s not, because Oceans Deep deserve it. Until a proper physical release, enjoy in their music digitally.