Metalcore icons Being As An Ocean are here to take the music scene by storm with their newest release: Death Can Wait. With a career spanning over ten years, having such monumental releases like 2012's Dear G-d..., 2014's How We Both Wondrously Perish, 2015's self-titled, 2017's Waiting for Morning to Come, & 2019's Proxy: An A.N.I.M.O Story (let's be honest, every release has set the music bar higher and higher), it is no surprise that this album release will continue to skyrocket the band to new heights.
If you were a fellow emo teen back in the days of Tumblr, I'd guarantee you've seen hundreds of photos with a Being As An Ocean lyric plastered across it. Every since 2012, Being As An Ocean has been pumping out music with some of the most heart wrenching lyrics that shake you to your core and pull on every heart string. Accompany this type of Shakespearean lyrical content with some down-tuned guitars, some metalcore/hardcore drumming, and tear-inducing screams, and you have yourself some of the most original music ever to grace the planet.
The band has been perfecting this method of songwriting and playing, and it is evident in their most recent album. It is so difficult to choose a favorite track because of just how well each song is pre-formed and how well the album flows from track to track. You have some "in your face" tracks like "Swallowed By The Earth" that bombard your ears immediately with an almost diary entry like song. You are out of your mind if you say your heart doesn't hurt when hearing the lyrics "No matter how much we ignore it, we all toy with the idea of forfeit. To suffer is human." Right in the feels. But, as the song continues to brings a somewhat hopeful theme while delicately dancing on the era of sadness. And what about the title track "Death Can Wait"? The song screams like the victory song of someone who is slowly overcoming their own demons and trying to continue on in this life.
While the entire album is phenomenal from front to back, there is one other song that especially stands out: "Gloom". Accompanying the release of the album, Being As An Ocean also released a visualizer music video to go with "Gloom". In the opinion of a Day 1 fan of Being As An Ocean, "Gloom" truly encompasses the past, present, and potential future of the band. With moments that seem to reflect and be reminiscent of the Dear G-d... & How We Both Wondrously Perish days while keeping the new changes from the era of Proxy: An A.N.I.M.O Story, "Gloom" seems like the song that would be a stadium anthem. Just imagining this song play in an arena or stadium and the hearing the crowd scream the lyrics back louder than the band is something that sends goosebumps down my spine. And I know I am not alone in thinking this way. When speaking about "Gloom", Being As An Ocean had this to say:
"Gloom is a song about recognizing our own personal demons and the character flaws that we all have. With self-awareness, we can begin to see when they pop up and poke their heads in to our lives. We can fight back. Each of us have different 'monsters' inside of us, but that also means with practice and growth, we each have different heroic qualities in us. These are the positive things that we must grow and foster out of necessity to fight our own personal mental battles. We then take those strengths and bring them into the physical world as forces of change for good. The song is an encouragement to any one who is struggling with an internal battle. As long as you continue to fight and persevere, with grace, acceptance, and love for yourself, you will grow more than you could have ever imagined. We can slay or at least tame the monsters in us."
