Oceans is the second studio album by London-based Japanese rock band Esprit D'Air. It was released on 18 February 2022, through the band's own Starstorm Records with a distribution partnership with AWAL and Plastic Head Distribution. Work on the album began in 2018, but was halted due to the theft of producer and singer Kai's laptop and backups in 2019, which delayed new singles and the album releases.
Esprit D'Air completed the album in late in 2021 after successfully crowdfunding the album. Oceans is a very genre-fluid album containing various metal and rock genres with elements of electronics and piano. It was produced entirely by Kai with collaborations from session musicians and featured artists including Ben Christo from the Sisters of Mercy and Ryo Kinoshita from Crystal Lake, and Japanese vocaloid artist UmiKazeTaiyou.
Composition Critics have identified the style to be genre-fluid with various tracks ranging from djent and electronicore to power metal and post-rock. The use of digital synthesizer is prevalent in most tracks, much like their debut album Constellations.
Singles Esprit D'Air released multiple singles from the album including their most popular song 'Leviathan', which premiered on Loudwire, as well as songs such as "The Abyss" featuring Ryo Kinoshita from Crystal Lake, and "Dead Zone" featuring Ben Christo from The Sisters of Mercy.
Reception Critical The release of 'Leviathan' garnered some praise from peers with The Sisters of Mercy's Ben Christo stating of the song, "It's a really unique blend of djent, industrial, electro, goth, emo, metal and much more. I love the dramatics and cinematic quality it has, with haunting, melancholy colors swooping betwixt the cruel, relentless jaws of the machine." Michael Falcore of The Birthday Massacre stated that 'Leviathan' is a "wonderful song, feels like a modern day opera with heavy guitars set on fire! Melancholic and haunting, the vocals cut deep. A truly inspired song."
About the track, 'Dead Zone', Richard Shaw, the guitarist of Cradle of Filth stated, "Catchy and atmospheric, with incredible vocals and an otherworldly guitar solo. What a song!".
PowerPlay Magazine gave Oceans a 10/10 review, and a live review, citing that "In the 25 years that I've been publishing Powerplay and of the thousands of bands that I've seen play live, this rated as one of the most crushingly intense shows that I've ever experienced".
Radio coverage
Both 'Calling You' and 'Amethyst' were played on BBC Radio's F.N.A.T. show.
'Leviathan' was played on BBC Radio 1's Future Alternative show with Nels Hylton and Kerrang! Radio's Fresh Blood with Alex Baker. About 'Leviathan', Nels Hylton states, "Gargantuan, taking electronic-sounding elements and just layering it over some of the best guitar riffs I’ve heard in a minute.", whilst Alex Baker states, "Showcases how these guys have the ability to mix up so many flavors. It's proggy, cinematic, it's synthy, it's a bit DragonForce-y at times, a bit metal-y, but all the time, it's bloody great."
Ollie Winiberg (BBC Radio 1) also stated, "One of the most phenomenal guitar players I have seen in years, going by the name of Esprit D'Air." on his Heavy Hooks podcast.
'The Abyss' was played on TotalRock and Midlands Metalheads Radio.
Matthew Kiichi Heafy of Trivium played 'Leviathan' as an opening track on his Chaos Hour show on SiriusXM.
Commercial Despite not being on a major record label and releasing independently, "Oceans" peaked at number 8 on the UK Rock and Metal Albums Chart, and number 5 on the UK Independent Albums Chart and has re-entered and stayed in the Official Charts for several weeks in 2022. It was their first album to reach the UK charts.
Tour dates Esprit D'Air announced an extensive string of 34 tour dates to perform songs from the Oceans album, including an album launch party at the O2 Academy Islington, London.
+ List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue Date City Country VenueBritish Isles 20 February 2022 LondonEngland O2 Academy Islington 30 July 2022 London The Underworld 31 July 2022 Newcastle upon Tyne The Cluny 2 1 August 2022 Glasgow Scotland The Garage (G2) 2 August 2022 Manchester England Rebellion 17 February 2023 Cardiff Wales The Globe 19 February 2023 YorkEngland The Fulford Arms 20 February 2023 Newcastle upon Tyne The Cluny 21 February 2023 Edinburgh Scotland La Belle Angèle 22 February 2023 ManchesterEngland Manchester Academy 3 23 February 2023 Birmingham O2 Academy3 Birmingham 25 February 2023 London The Black Heart (Patreon-only show)Europe 8 October 2023 Kraków Poland Klub Zaścianek 10 October 2023 Budapest Hungary Dürer Kert 12 October 2023 Barcelona Spain La NauBritish Isles 12 February 2024 Bournemouth England The Old Fire Station 13 February 2024 Exeter England Exeter Phoenix 14 February 2024 Bristol England Thekla 16 February 2024 Swansea Wales Hangar 18 18 February 2024 Wolverhampton England KK's Steel Mill 19 February 2024 Sheffield England Corporation 20 February 2024 Manchester England Manchester Academy 3 21 February 2024 Liverpool England O2 Academy Liverpool 23 February 2024 Dublin Ireland The Grand Social 24 February 2024 Belfast Northern Ireland Oh Yeah Music Centre 26 February 2024 Leeds England The Warehouse 27 February 2024 Glasgow Scotland The Garage 28 February 2024 Newcastle upon Tyne England Northumbria University Students' Union 29 February 2024 Nottingham England Rescue Rooms 2 March 2024 London England The GarageEurope 29 March 2024 Heerlen Netherlands Poppodium Nieuwe Nor 30 March 2024 Hamburg Germany Headcrash 31 March 2024 Cologne Germany MTC 1 April 2024 Antwerp Belgium Kavka Oudaan
Track listing
Personnel Production Kai – lead vocals, guitar, bass, drums, piano, synthesizer, production, programming, recording engineer, art direction and typography Paul Visser – mixing and mastering engineer (all tracks except 1, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19 and 20)
Session musicians Ryoma Takahashi – co-producer and writer (tracks 2 and 14) Yusuke Okamoto – co-producer and writer (track 4) UmiKazeTaiyou – co-producer and writer (track 9) Takeshi Tokunaga – co-producer and writer (track 10), bass (tracks 3, 10 and 14) Yoshisuke Suga – writer (track 16) Tatsuya Nashimoto – producer (track 16) Jan-Vincent Velazco – drums (track 14 and 18) Sougo Akiyoshi – drums (track 7 and 8) Ryo Kinoshita – additional vocals and lyrics (track 5) Ben Christo – additional vocals and lyrics (track 6)
Artwork Lewis-Jon Somerscales – disc and inlay innerpage artwork Alex Kie – photographer
Remixers Heavygrinder – remix engineer (track 17) Shirobon – remix engineer (track 20)
Charts + Chart performance for Oceans Chart (2022–2024) Peakposition
References