ocean districts - Expeditions

Ocean Districts

Expeditions
self-released; 2014

3.8 out of 5

By Eva Cantillo

Hailing from Estonia, this four-piece instrumental band brings listeners an air of foreign sophistication to their ambient hard rock music. Even though the music is considered ambient, each song has a rough and jagged persona, which perhaps is due to the inspiration behind the album. Expeditions is meant to be a musical and ethereal exploration of mother earth’s various terrains; some treacherous, others beautiful and serene.

The album starts off with “The Horizon,” a track that begins with a beautiful piano chord accompanied by gentle guitar melodies. Then before you know it, the guitar turns heavy and somewhat dark and transforms the song’s entire existence into something epic and triumphant. The percussion is also amped up and as the song moves along the drums really anchor the calculated madness of the track. The next song, “Arctic Circle” also begins with a very melancholy opening before delving into a sea of icy guitar riffs and drum patterns. This song’s sound embodies the trials of an arduous journey through a tundra as there is fear and hardships at every turn in the journey, mirrored by the song.  Soon, the song builds up to an elevated place of musical mastery where I can just see the band playing upon an icy mountaintop and the guitars and drums echoing across the barren landscape.

The song “Expedition” shares a similar name as the album and it really has a running melody that just makes you want to get up and go conquer a mountain or treacherous valley of some sort. There is so much passion and triumph within this song it truly represents a brave expedition through time and space. There are some interesting vocal samples added as well; they sound like an old radio transmission and only add the authenticity of embarking on a real journey. Another track “Aurora” makes me envision the winding down of a hard day of trekking, and watching the night sky in all its majestic beauty; shooting stars and the Aurora Borealis. 

Ocean Districts definitely embodies the “chaotic” characteristics of this beautiful earth we inhabit. Through their strong chords and heavy metal-like rock sounds they highlight the sheer beauty and power of every landscape. The album is well produced and each song has its own story to tell, letting the listener use their own imagination to build their own expedition.

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