Ocean Planet waste no time in grabbing their audience’s attention on ‘Devastate’. The opening bars attack with pneumatic rhythms offset by a twin lead guitar sound worthy of peak Trivium. From there, the Reading based band branch out with an arrangement that feels a little more original when they blend elements of melodic metalcore with prog metal, creating something that sounds absolutely huge. The interplay between the heavy guitars and tight rhythm section is impressive throughout, and on the rare occasion the band lightens up, some very melodic guitar work creeps through an intense arrangement. A hefty and aggressive vocal based around a hardcore influenced growl mightn’t be to everyone’s tastes, but it fits the music brilliantly, helping Ocean Planet sound genuinely fierce.

As heavy as this is in places, it’s far more accessible – and melodic – than the band’s previous single ‘Chaotic Temples’ which blended their metalcore base with even more pneumatics, a vocal more suited to melodic death metal and really oppressive gothic keys. By contrast, it’s easy to hear the band not just moving forward, but doing so with a massive leap, and refining their sound just enough to sound like a near perfect force of contemporary metal.

Take a listen below.