Ocean Grove performing at Download Festival Melbourne 2018
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Ocean Grove performing at Download Festival Melbourne 2018

When Ocean Grove’s debut LP The Rhapsody Tapes dropped earlier this year, it did more than just sky-rocket the Melbourne lads to immense acclaim. It also intentionally gave birth to a new genre. Bound by the ‘Rhapsody Manifesto’, Ocean Grove showed listeners a brief introduction to their odd world order, delivering 12 tracks that transcended the categorical ties of what it means to be an Australian heavy act.

Delivering a hybrid of genres from nu metal to trance and everything in between, many fans are now interested in what direction album number two will take, with the band already having announced they are writing new material.

“I’m interested as well,” laughs the bands’ bass player and clean vocalist Dale Tanner. “Everything that we have started writing so far feels completely new and fresh and delivers a whole new vibe to anything we have done previously. I feel the core and fundamental writing aspects that are noticeable in all our songs will still shine through.”

Tanner continues, expanding on the comparisons between Ocean Groves new and old material. “The whole ‘Odd World’ idea is definitely engrained in our band set-up at this point so I never think we will stray from that. I feel it’s given us a certain identity, a distinct little place in the big world of music,” he says.

“With this new release it is definitely something we want to expand on again, I think with the new album, we will definitely take from what we have done previously and incorporate it into the new, while still expanding the direction we are heading in.

“We are taking about 40/50 per cent of The Rhapsody Tapes and evolving our sound a bit more. It’s just about that gradual evolution, which I feel, is really important,” Tanner explains. “I guess in a way, we need to respect our own music and pay homage to the music that we have already created. I think there will be a lot more to experiment with than we know and The Rhapsody Tapes was kind of a realisation of that, and because it was received so well it’s just the biggest encouragement ever to continue exploring new sounds and doing what we do.”

In addition to the huge year that Ocean Grove have had, they will also be delivering their unique live show at next years inaugural Download festival, which is a feat Tanner describes as “the kind of thing that [he] would never even consider putting on a bucket list because it seems that far out”.

“The line-ups of previous years in the UK where it started out have had the biggest rock and heavy bands that the world has ever seen. The fact that it has that credibility is so inspiring and to think that we will be part of that history and that people will look back at this line-up as a stamp in time of music is absolutely amazing. We couldn’t be more excited.”

With their Download performance still a few months off, Tanner teased the idea of new music being released, but made sure to leave fans on the edge of their seat by not giving us anything definite.

“Ill have to say potentially on that one… It’s either yes or no, but it’s not a definite no that’s for sure so get excited!”

When & Where: Download Festival @ Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne – March 24 2018.

Visit www.downloadfestival.com.au/ for more info.

Written by Alex Callan