Sound Devastation Records
Described as equal parts experimental, indie, and metal it's hard whilst listening to 'Every Ocean Reversed'; the debut from Swedish band Seven Nautical Miles, to disagree with that consensus you could even go one further and split those descriptions with the music very much along the experimental/indie line and the vocal of the metal ilk. Formed from the disbanded thrash-metal that was Machinery of Suffering (yes they did birthday parties and bar-mitzvahs) Seven Nautical Miles sees it's members taking a much varied direction from previous efforts whilst slyly throwing in little nods to their past in order to create six mini-epics each clocking in at over eight-minutes in length and featuring an assault on the ear which personally I found hard to stomach for repeated listens but then again I'm weak!
Opener 'Cranes' sets the tone for pretty much all the other five tracks with it's shimmering melodic guitar floating around all over it building up and letting down, the track slowly gathers pace and seems to be aiming for something before just failing to capitalize on the momentum by continuing on as before. Like much of this album I find it's spoiled by the vocals, the music is wonderful to listen to and would make a great instrumental album or soundtrack but when Mathias Oystila starts retching all over it I instantly lose interest I'm afraid. 'Hide Away The Sun' continues on the theme of the opener with it's sky-scraping melodies and the disappointment of the track being ruined by the vocals but we get the addition of some quite striking guitar riffs that lift you above the failings of vocal output.
Each track is very much like an extended instrumental piece of a traditional four-minute track. You can never quite tell if Seven Nautical Miles have meant everything to sound like this or if they just got carried away whilst recording. 'Landscapes' sees Seven Nautical Miles' more metal based past rear it's head as the track certainly has more ferocity to it and it's the only track here that actually suits Oystila's vocals. 'Thieves' sees Seven Nautical Miles continue on the well trodden path that has supplied the first three songs. There is little room for deviation and that kind of makes me feel a little stale with 'Every Ocean...'. By this point, the only real change is the addition of some synth-piano but little else is different.
'Our Eyes' finally sees some control applied to that vocal thankfully as the track is more mellow and gains from not having words vomited on top. The restraint is even evident when you can hear the screaming start to work it's way back in. For me it's the stand-out track here purely because Seven Nautical Miles haven't gone overboard with everything making it all click a little better. The finale is the twelve-minute opus 'Take Me Away' which brings an unwelcome return of the surely by now sore voice which has been screeching continually! When it comes to the overall sound, 'Our Eyes' really is a sound scape to behold.
Seven Nautical Miles certainly do have a way with creating sonically beautiful pieces of music but I just can't understand why they would let them be ruined by the awful vocals. I guess coming from a thrash-metal background they maybe just don't hear anything wrong with the vocals and I'm sure a lot of other folk won't either. For me personally it just takes away from the music.
Track-listing: (* = star track)
1. Crane - 10:15
2. Hide Away The Sun - 08:59
3. Landscapes - 08:12
4. Thieves - 08:20
5. Our Eyes - 09:09*
6. Take Me Away - 11:49
Produced by: Marcus J Garbom & Seven Nautical Miles
Website: Seven Nautical Miles
Label: Sound Devastation Records
http://www.myspace.com/sevennauticalmiles
Opener 'Cranes' sets the tone for pretty much all the other five tracks with it's shimmering melodic guitar floating around all over it building up and letting down, the track slowly gathers pace and seems to be aiming for something before just failing to capitalize on the momentum by continuing on as before. Like much of this album I find it's spoiled by the vocals, the music is wonderful to listen to and would make a great instrumental album or soundtrack but when Mathias Oystila starts retching all over it I instantly lose interest I'm afraid. 'Hide Away The Sun' continues on the theme of the opener with it's sky-scraping melodies and the disappointment of the track being ruined by the vocals but we get the addition of some quite striking guitar riffs that lift you above the failings of vocal output.
Each track is very much like an extended instrumental piece of a traditional four-minute track. You can never quite tell if Seven Nautical Miles have meant everything to sound like this or if they just got carried away whilst recording. 'Landscapes' sees Seven Nautical Miles' more metal based past rear it's head as the track certainly has more ferocity to it and it's the only track here that actually suits Oystila's vocals. 'Thieves' sees Seven Nautical Miles continue on the well trodden path that has supplied the first three songs. There is little room for deviation and that kind of makes me feel a little stale with 'Every Ocean...'. By this point, the only real change is the addition of some synth-piano but little else is different.
'Our Eyes' finally sees some control applied to that vocal thankfully as the track is more mellow and gains from not having words vomited on top. The restraint is even evident when you can hear the screaming start to work it's way back in. For me it's the stand-out track here purely because Seven Nautical Miles haven't gone overboard with everything making it all click a little better. The finale is the twelve-minute opus 'Take Me Away' which brings an unwelcome return of the surely by now sore voice which has been screeching continually! When it comes to the overall sound, 'Our Eyes' really is a sound scape to behold.
Seven Nautical Miles certainly do have a way with creating sonically beautiful pieces of music but I just can't understand why they would let them be ruined by the awful vocals. I guess coming from a thrash-metal background they maybe just don't hear anything wrong with the vocals and I'm sure a lot of other folk won't either. For me personally it just takes away from the music.
Track-listing: (* = star track)
1. Crane - 10:15
2. Hide Away The Sun - 08:59
3. Landscapes - 08:12
4. Thieves - 08:20
5. Our Eyes - 09:09*
6. Take Me Away - 11:49
Produced by: Marcus J Garbom & Seven Nautical Miles
Website: Seven Nautical Miles
Label: Sound Devastation Records
http://www.myspace.com/sevennauticalmiles
![Chris T-T - Love Is Not Rescue [Album]](http://hangout.altsounds.com/altthumb.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fhangout.altsounds.com%2Fgeek%2Fgars%2Fimages%2F1%2F9%2F7%2F1%2F7%2Floveisnot300.jpg&h=100&w=300&zc=1&q=70)
![Tim Knol - Tim Knol [Album]](http://hangout.altsounds.com/altthumb.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fhangout.altsounds.com%2Fgeek%2Fgars%2Fimages%2F5%2F2%2F7%2F8%2Ftimknol.jpg&h=100&w=300&zc=1&q=70)
![Insect Guide - The 5 O'Clock Recordings [EP]](http://hangout.altsounds.com/altthumb.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fhangout.altsounds.com%2Fgeek%2Fgars%2Fimages%2F1%2F9%2F8%2F9%2F1%2Finsectcover.jpg&h=100&w=300&zc=1&q=70)
![Aaron English - American Fever Dream [Album]](http://hangout.altsounds.com/altthumb.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fhangout.altsounds.com%2Fgeek%2Fgars%2Fimages%2F3%2F9%2F8%2F5%2F3fd0039_small.jpg&h=100&w=300&zc=1&q=70)
![Night Noise Team - Menolick [Single]](http://hangout.altsounds.com/altthumb.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fhangout.altsounds.com%2Fgeek%2Fgars%2Fimages%2F1%2F3%2F3%2F8%2F2%2F2nnt-300.jpg&h=100&w=300&zc=1&q=70)
