OCEAN OF FIRE
Destination CD
(self-release)

This one was given to me by Alex (Solaris) after he went and checked OOF at No Black Tie and can’t stop blabbing about how good they were. Apparently, the guitarist won some Battle of the Bands best axeman and now endorsed by some guitar brands, etc. Not really something I look up to, I must add.

Anyway, OCEAN OF FIRE is a progressive hard-rock band from Penang (that’s what I heard from Alex anyway) and this CD is a collection of 12 tracks played by a very well-schooled, dexterous bunch of rocking musos. They are the sort who all of you technical-minded, musicianship-is-the-bomb nerds would gawp at with reverence and awe.

At some points of this CD, it reminds me of poodle-haired band EUROPE, but without the cheesy lyrics and vocals. Oh, must tell you that OOF is an instrumental rock band. No singing dude prancing with them. And at other times, there are bits of germ-free 80s YES or that old MAHAVISHNU-style fusion pretension or SPYRO GYRA’s smooth jazzy BMW-driving yuppie contentment. All the while, the guitar would go widdly-widdly-triblly like the best of a subdued Malmsteen.

If you like such loftiness and over-the-top pyrotechnics, OOF is a god-sent awesome, awesome local band. As for me, well, I would not want to sit with this ever again.

[rating:6/10]

myspace.com/oceanoffire1