Oceanhoarse is a Finnish heavy metal band started in January 2018. Their first full-length album "The Damage Is Done -Live!" was released on June 5, 2020. The band´s music is energetic live-oriented heavy metal with no use of backing tracks or synthesizers.
Biography
The band was founded by Ben Varon, ex-Amoral guitarist and songwriter, who after ending Amoralat the beginning of 2017, wanted to start a brand new band. Unlike Amoral, Oceanhoarse uses no backgrounds or synthesizers in their music. The emphasis is on live-oriented heavy metal. The other members of the band are the bassist Jyri Helko, singer Tommy Tuovinen and drummer Oskari Niemi. Oceanhoarse is working on one song at a time and also releasing them one at a time. This approach makes it possible to test the songs live before recording them. The band released their debut single, "The Oceanhoarse", on Finnish Radio Rock online radio January 17, 2018, and the video the following day. Their second single, "Fading Neons", was released as a live version on February 22, 2018, on the metal music website Bravewords. The third single, "Waves", was released on April 17 and the video on May 7. "The Oceanhoarse" and "Fading Neons" can be heard as part of the soundtrack on the Wreckfest racing video game. By July 2018, Oceanhoarse had played 13 shows and 11 own songs: 2 anonymous songs, the three singles, "Feed The Sirens", "Death Row Center", "From Hell To Oblivion", "Intruder", "Born of Fire", and "Bark at the Moon". The shows were generally well received. On August 28, 2018, it was announced vocalist Tommy Touvinen was forced to leave the band due to hearing loss. Joonas Kosonen was announced as his replacement on October 30. The fifth single, "Death Row Center", was Joonas Kosonen's debut in Oceanhoarse. It was released in February 2019. The sixth single "Feed The Sirens" was released in June 2019. In late 2019, the band worked on their first album. The Voluntary Blends -EP was released on November 15, 2019. Before that, the band released the Slipknot cover song "Duality" from the EP. Other songs on the album include Death Row Center and Feed the Sirens, as well as new songs "Stitches" and "Maze of Death". In 2019, Oceanhoarse performed at clubs and festivals, including the Tokyo Finland Feast in Japan and the Hyvinkää Rockfest in Finland. The band's year culminated in its own Hoarsefest event at On The Rocks Club in Helsinki, where in addition to the performance of five metal bands, there was also other programs such as music clinics. In February 2020, the band were on their first European tour as a warm-up for Marko Hietala, before the corona pandemic restrictions came into force. Part of the band's spring and summer 2020 performances were canceled due to restrictions, including the Tuska Open Air in Helsinki at the end of June. The band’s goal is to make catchy live music. According to the band, this way of making music also allows the songs to be tested in front of the audience before they are recorded. As a consistent continuation to this line, the band released their first full-length album as a live recording. The songs were recorded in February 2020 on the band’s first European tour. The first single "The Damage " was clipped from the album in May 2020. The Damage Is Done -Live! album was released on June 5, 2020. The album includes both songs released on the Voluntary Bends -EP and previously released singles, as well as bass and guitar solos that are an essential part of live gigs. Kimmo Ahola, FOH engineer at Nightwish, is responsible for the recording and Tuomas Wäinölä for the mixing of the album.
