In light of whats to come on their debut record The Rhapsody Tapes, the Australian group can be heard here at the crossroads, steadily shedding their Metalcore roots and bringing about the Nu Metal elements to their sound. Black Label strangely parallels this trajectory as some Deathcore elements in the opening tracks gets weened out as more Nu Metal ideas inch in. Guitar tones, vocal stylings, syncopated riffs and the classic creepy Korn high pitched guitar noises all tend to mirror the genre that peaked twenty years ago. Although Ocean Grove pull it off with an enjoyable presence of expression, at times some of these ideas undoubtedly pull from the smellier side of Nu Metal, which there was a lot of back at its peak.
They are yet to land on the right arrangement of elements that will forge the gold to come, however Luke Holmes unleashes his clean vocals for the first time here and they are fantastic, pretty much the best moments by far. It feels a little uncohesive with the downtrodden glumness this breed of Nu Metal has baked into it and the arsenal of riffs, the booming slams or quirky melodies, fail to reach any particular summits. Its descent into this sound even has some classic DJ scratches cropping up in the final song, something I'm glad they didn't pursue in the same vein. An interesting record, really glad they were able to work out all the kinks reviving this old style.
Rating: 5/10