Being As An Ocean "Waiting For Morning To Come" Review

There’s certainly a stigma with heavy bands wanting to go electronically-influenced directions with their music, in that the albums that follow aren’t well-received by some fans. With Waiting For Morning To Come, though, Being As An Ocean has walked that line very well, creating a collection of songs that can appeal to both their old “community” and the one they intend on reaching with this album. The gritty vocals of frontman Joel Quartuccio coupled with the serene melodies of guitarist/clean vocalist Michael McGough, with the backing of guitarist Tyler Ross and bassist Ralph Sica’s instrumentation, will capture the ear of longtime BAAO fans, and certainly has the ability to make many new ones.

One of the band’s trademarks is creating somber, emotion-inducing soundscapes, and that’s heard in a completely new way on Waiting For Morning To Come; with this new electronic, synth-based influence, these soundscapes are almost ethereal, a great example being the second track and one of the singles, “Black & Blue”. The band travels down a lot of different avenues with this, as well, by incorporating it into songs reminiscent of past works like “OK”, heart-tugging lyrical compositions like “Dissolve”, and fist-pumping, anthemic choruses like “Thorns”. Lengthy-named instrumental interludes between some of the tracks, along with the atmospheric “Suddenly, I Was Alone”, help create this album into not necessarily being a collection of songs; rather, a journey that Quartuccio and company take the listener on.

If you’re purchasing this album in the hopes that it will be a more hardcore-focused album laced with riffage, though, it won’t exactly meet that criteria. The band does a fantastic job of incorporating new elements into their formula, but the former is much more prevalent than the latter; to fully have that duality of sound they’re shooting for with the album, more could’ve been done.

While the genre could, by all means, be up for debate, there’s no question that this is a genuine Being As An Ocean record; and it’s certainly a good one. The experience that’s been created here in Waiting For Morning To Come will be worth every penny of an open-minded listener’s money; and even though there’s still room to grow for the band, it’s exciting to realize they’ve got nowhere to go but up from here. But as fans wait for that to come, they’ve got a great album on their hands here and, especially given all the trouble they’d went through to put it out, it’s an album that the band should most certainly be proud of.

 Review by Spencer Prather