Before I start talking about this album, it is worth to take a look at the piece of art in the album's cover. Created by Theodore Gericault this amazing painting reflects the agony and the expectancy for salvation of some tired souls from the long journey. Their faces and the position of their bodies looks amazingly alive while the dot in the horizon, that looks like a ship, creates happiness and peradventure for the future. Stylistic and metaphoric, may be a depiction of our travel in this life, where the sea is our problems and the ship is our society in a state of total abjection waiting to be saved.
This German based band completed their trilogy based on sea stories and specifically on the books In The Heart Of The Sea by Nathaniel Philbric and The Wreck Of The Whalesphip Essex by Owen Chase. The stories deal with the unfortunate ending of whale-hunting in the ocean where the crew gets into cannibalism to stay alive. A good topic for a Funeral Doom band; don't you think? Having read some very good words about their previous album, The Call Of The Wretched Sea, I was curious about this second one. I surely cannot say that I am not satisfied but I definitely can say that I wanted something more intense.
The Divinity Of Oceans starts with the very good song entitled Yet Another Raft Of The Medusa that has a very nice guitar intro and some polymorphic ideas making it easy to follow. Despite its length, is not boring at all. In the self-titled, you will hear some clear influences from the Doom-like parts of MORBID ANGEL. They tried to enrich their sound with some Death elements that in general are not bad. Same multidimensional aspect towards their music is found in the plethora of the calm, almost ballad-like parts. And here is my problem. I believe that they crossed the line and in the end, they became too soft and melodic. In order to understand my saying I can tell you that OPETH's sound is close to these parts. In its entirety, the album didn't create any inside-feelings and left me in emotional apathy. It worked like it was traveling besides me but in the end didn't touch me. The honey melodies took my mind to the 'abominations' like ANATHEMA.
All in all, if we speak about Funeral Doom, or something close to that, this band that has many perspectives for further recognition and publicity. They are not bad, neither wimpy but I definitely wanted more darkness, more despair and real soul's vibration inside.