Rating: 9/10

Living Chaos is a brutal, relentless return from Oceano, fusing tight grooves and crushing breakdowns into a deathcore powerhouse.

Oceano’s Living Chaos delivers a fiercely satisfying return, a brutal deathcore showcase that demonstrates why they’ve remained genre giants. The band’s sixth studio album, and their first release in seven years, Living Chaos hits hard with guttural intensity and brilliantly layered instrumentals, making it an easy 9/10 for fans of heavy, chaotic soundscapes.

Opening with “Darkness Rising,” the band immediately establishes the tone of this record. The breakdown alone in this track is pure weight—dense and consuming, it slams you into the experience with visceral force. It’s this kind of impact that resonates across the album, with each song building upon the relentless energy of the last. Drummer Matt Kohanowski, proves his worth here with powerful, unrelenting beats that sync perfectly with Adam Warren’s crushing vocal depth.

The album features nine tracks that don’t waste a second, sticking to tight runtimes while managing to incorporate complexity. Each track averages about three and a half minutes, keeping things concise yet fully immersive. And while Oceano doesn’t break from their brutal roots, they add new layers that reflect the genre’s evolution. “Interlude” provides a strikingly serene instrumental break, setting up the heaviness of “The Price of Pain” to hit even harder. This shift shows that the band isn’t just about pure aggression but can also explore moments of reflection, further enhancing the impact of their heaviest moments.

Living Chaos also benefits from meticulous production quality. Joey Sturgis and Nick Matzkows, who handled mixing and mastering, achieve a crystal-clear brutality. The tones they’ve crafted are breathtaking; intros like those in “The Flames” showcase hauntingly beautiful tones before dropping into crushing breakdowns. It’s clear that every layer, from Scott Smith’s distorted guitar work to Chris Wagner’s bass lines, has been refined to deliver maximum depth and clarity.

Lyrically, Living Chaos doesn’t hold back either, diving into themes that are as dark as they are impactful. Adam Warren’s performance is stellar; his guttural screams are powerful and emotionally charged, a perfect match for the album’s visceral tone. Tracks like “The Price of Pain” evoke raw emotions, especially through lyrical themes that reflect hardship and resilience. Warren’s vocal control and aggression infuse each track with a sense of urgency, a reminder of why he remains one of deathcore’s most respected vocalists.

Although the album stays largely within deathcore’s conventions, Oceano has made the familiar feel fresh. Their slower, heavier approach offers a brutal groove that makes Living Chaos playlist-worthy. Living Chaos might not be revolutionary, but it’s crafted with an energy that proves deathcore can evolve and still stay true to its roots.

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Living Chaos

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