This is an interview I made with progressive death metal band “Oceans Of Slumber”.Hailing from Houston, Tx, “Oceans Of Slumber” featuring members of “DemoniacalGenuflection”, “Ingurgitate”, and “Insect Warfare”. The band has just released its brandnew album "Aetherial". The group is also seeking a label for the release, with interestedrecord companies urged to knock on their door immediately. Their sound is original withmultiple styles of metal melded into one piece of art. I sent some questions to DobberBeverly (drummer), to discuss the new album, “Aetherial”, and what to expect from thefuture from “Oceans Of Slumber”.Congrats on releasing such a strong album as"Aetherial". Are you happy the way it turnedout? What will you remember most about therecording of "Aetherial" album?Thank you very much and we are super stoked withthe outcome of this album. "Aetherial" issomething the 5 of us have thrived and struggled todo our whole lives, so it's certainly a happymoment in recorded history for us!Did you have the album title "Aetherial" goingin, or did you pick it once the song was written?We picked it once the song was written. We'dbasically just started coming into our own anddecided that the title of the record should signify abeginning and something beyond us as a group.You worked with producer Russ Russell. Whatabout his style works with the band?Russ is our fifth Beatle. His ball out Rock 'N' Rollstyle fits perfectly with us. We like organic soundsand the idea of the band creating the music and thelive feel being present is exactly what we strive foron a record. He literally knew exactly the direction

we wanted to go while mixing and without us beingpresent. Russ Russell fucking rules!You have so many styles and sounds infused intothe band’s sound, how long did it take you guysto find a balance between everything?Honestly, no time at all. We are all life longmusicians and professional musicians at that, so tous it's just what came out. “Oceans of Slumber” iscertainly a fortuitous happening for each of us. Allof us are metal heads and share many of the samefavorite bands as well as many other diverse, andspecific, personal influences. So that has been thecreative force that allows us to kind of go wherevermusically. It's an awesome feeling to finally have aband full of like minded individuals that arefocused on the same overall goal; creating music.In my opinion what makes you different from allother progressive metal bands is the brutalitythat emerges from in between all the layers ofyour sound, which eventually creates the uniqueand original vibe of your music. Do you haveany particular emotional guidelines you would

like to achieve when composing?It certainly seems that you've listened to the recordenough to catch what we're trying to do! Thanks somuch for that!! The heavy stuff is just a given.Hell, I played for some of the heaviest bands toever come from Texas like “Infernal Dominion”,“Insect Warfare”, “Sect of Execration”,“Ingurgitate”. “Oceans of Slumber” also has analter ego in “Demoniacal Genuflection”, which isour super intense extreme metal band. That bandtakes all of the stuff that's to dark for “Oceans”,though we plan to infuse more and more on thenew record. So we have a plethora of material andsounds to get out.What sort of themes are present on the albumand how are they expressed through the lyrics?Lyrically the band follows along the path ofadversity in and around the life of a man, orwoman. Topic wise it's everything from love andloss to addiction and the otherworld. Just normalshit we deal with as adults and our pitfalls ashuman beings. Hope and hopelessness."Aetherial" gives you the longitude to do moreexperimentation down the road. Do you haveanything else similar in mind?The next record is about halfway finished and wehave certainly pushed the envelope in bothdirections. It's heavier and faster with more techstuff and more prog stuff. More experimenations inthe fusion and jazz departments too! We figure thatwe've prepared everyone with "Aetherial" so nowwe can start really letting loose on what we reallywant to do. Haha. Think Jeff Beck playing“Immortal” and “Morbid Angel”, or somethingalong those lines (Wow. Ed.).Are you guys unsigned by choice? If so, why,and if not, are you exploring anyopportunities/what would your ideal label beand why?We are certainly not unsigned by choice! We'd loveto get on a lable like “Prosthetic” or “InsideOut”that takes care of more progressive bands. Theband is certainly primed and ready to tour! We'vehad a few offers, but nothing set in stone. Thatwould be something we'd love to remedy at somepoint. So if you know someone....Hahaha! (nodude, but if I had a record label and bucks I wouldpick up you for sure. Ed.)How does self­releasing instead of using thelabel change the dynamics of getting your albumout there and covering your costs and all that?It sucks. We've got so much money tied up in thisrecord and the distribution element is awful too.

Haha. We essentially have to wear both hats andself promote, which isn't free, while we maintainthe band as musicians. Which isn't new to any ofus, but it is a bit more expensive when you have topay to do anything. We're taking it in stride andburning those bridges as we cross them. Notlooking back and only looking forward to ourfutures. Hopefully more hard work will pay off forus!!What has your stage experience been like?Personally, I've played 1000's of shows and haveplayed all over the planet in my other bands. As aband we've all had a significant amount of liveexperience and certainly are in our element on thestage. We are a live band by all means. We've beenfortunate enough to share the stage with“Crowbar”, “Prong”, “Fear Factory”, “DioDisciples” and many more. The band will hopefullybe on the road by years end and hopefully inEurope by next year sometime. Fingers crossed!What does the immediate future hold for“Oceans Of Slumber”?Right now we have to finish writing for our followup and get all the necessary business stuff togetherfor getting the band on the road. Around latesummer/early fall we plan to do a live studiorecording of re­arrangements of songs from“Aetherial” and a few other surprises. The plan isto rework a few songs and present them in aacoustic environment. This whole session will befilmed in multi­camera HD and played completelylive with no overdubs and no studio trickery.Possibly as a digital only release or digital andDVD. Not sure yet (I hope it could be finalized. Itseems intriguing. Ed.)Anything else you’d like to add?I, on behalf of the band, would like to thank you forthe interview and say that we really appreciate youlistening to our record (my pleasure mate. Ed.).Now if we can just get it out to everyone and play itlive in front of them, we'll have a complete successin our eyes! Support local musicians and supportmetal!!

"Oceans Of Slumber" online:www.facebook.com/oceansofslumberwww.reverbnation.com/oceansofslumberdobberbeverly@gmail.com