Being As An Ocean “PROXY: An A.N.I.M.O. Story” Album Review

Taking a new electronic-influenced direction is certainly no longer an uncommon decision for modern hardcore and metal bands. This trend has received mixed reactions of love and hate since it started, dividing fanbases left and right. Californian group Being As An Ocean is no longer an exception for this. They built up a promising following with their first few albums, which were all solid melodic hardcore records. With their fourth album Waiting For Morning to Come in 2017, they began dipping their toes into the electronic world, while taking some musical risks their label didn’t approve of. This led to them buying out their contract with Equal Vision Records to regain full creative control. 

With their fifth album, PROXY: An A.N.I.M.O. Story, Being As An Ocean were once again unafraid of taking huge risks. The record experiments with electronic, rock and even R&B, breaking through every genre barrier they cross paths with. While this mashup of styles was an ambitious road to take, it is the execution that determines how it will be remembered – which in this case, only sometimes works in their favor.

One thing they definitely got right is the concept behind the album. PROXY’s journey takes place in the 2100s during the aftermath of WWIII. It tells the story of a man who has created an artificial intelligence in hopes to restore the world of peace and viability, which quickly escalates into the decimation of humanity, as humans were the root cause of their own world’s downfall. It’s a bit ironic how the album tells a story based on the conflict between ambition and circumstance, while Being As An Ocean have fallen into that same conflict – in their case, ambitiously experimenting with their sound despite the circumstances they may clash with as a band.

The lead single “Play Pretend” is without a doubt one of the strongest songs on the record. The song’s structure and flow is parallel to that of Bring Me the Horizon’s “MANTRA”, drawing definite inspiration from them while still managing to create something with their own quirks and twists. It leaves a great first impression for the album, but is also a little misleading in where the energy and quality is to go for the rest of it.

The album definitely has its strengths – each song flows smoothly and naturally into the next, and the instrumental intro, interlude and outro act as toned-down progressions that subtly connect different chapters of the sci-fi story. However, many of these chapters are pretty underwhelming for Being As An Ocean’s standards. Every song is good…but most of them are JUST good. None of them reach the band’s highest potential that they proved with songs like “Alone” or “Dissolve” or “Death’s Great Black Wing Scrapes the Air”. “Find Our Way” has honorably driven intentions, but feels too anticlimactic for the level of impact it aims for. Songs like “Brave” and “Tragedy” slow down the album’s energy too early on without the memorable hooks and buildups to compensate. “Skin” is a bit more memorable, with Michael McGough delivering some beautiful melodies and falsetto tones over clean guitars. It’s easy to overlook this, though, because at this point, the average Being As An Ocean fan would be getting impatient with the slowed energy, and wondering when the screams and distorted guitars are coming back.

The pace is finally picked back up with “B.O.Y.” after the interlude, and we start to hear Joel Quartuccio’s beloved aggressive vocals again. This is not to dismiss the haunting tone of his clean vocal work in other tracks, as it does definitely add an evocative element that fits well with PROXY’s astral vibes. It is a little disappointing, though, that there seems to be less dynamic variation in the vocals than there was before his cleans took on a bigger role, especially in songs like “Low Life (Ode to the Underworld)”. He plays around with his clean vocal range a bit more in “Demon”, taking on an R&B-influenced feel. The stagnant momentum of the song takes away from the performance, however.

Towards the album’s end, the final impression is thankfully saved by tracks “Watch Me Bleed” and “See Your Face”. They each have a captivating force that paints an unearthly picture, making for some surreal live performances in the future. When the chorus of “See Your Face” breaks into the main electronic hook, it instantly grabs your attention in a way you wouldn’t have expected moments before, ensuring this is a track you won’t forget.

The album’s final full song “A.N.I.M.O.” also has an intriguing nature. The song has an apocalyptic message about the artificial intelligence putting an end to humanity. It has a menacing energy that almost feels supernatural, and the last thirty seconds or so are something nobody would see coming. Quartuccio lets out the lowest, most grueling growls we’ve heard from him in a long time. He snarls the lines “No death, no life / No heart, no light.” It then goes into the soft, reposed piano outro, creating a desolate yet serene image of the apocalypse’s aftermath – as if to say that due to the destruction of humanity, world peace has finally been achieved.

PROXY was definitely a leap in a direction that many Being As An Ocean fans were not prepared for, making for some biased judgments. But however you feel about the new sound, you have to admire the band for their ambitious ways of creating an atmosphere that brings the album’s story to life in the most vivid way possible. For a good portion of this record, that experimentation could’ve been better. It has a strong start and ending, but the middle lacks the fire and edge that the majority of Being As An Ocean’s work is loved for. Quartuccio has stated, though, that PROXY is only the beginning of a concept they plan to continue further, so hopefully future releases will reach the band’s highest potential all the way through.

Favorite tracks: Play Pretend, See Your Face