Brighton alt-rock quartet River Becomes Ocean surfaced back in 2013 and three years later, their new EP ‘December’ is not one to miss. Having toured with the likes of Funeral for a Friend and Silverstein, they’ve crammed a lot into their youthful career on stage and 2016 is their time to shine.

As the unified chants of ‘We Will’ being the EP’s proceedings, it’s clear to see the frequent comparison to Bring Me The Horizon as the aggressive screams suddenly rip into the track. This, mixed with polished but forceful cleans and the rapturous instrumentation being a constant, creates a brilliant recipe for success. ‘Lies’ lays off the heavy and floats in a haze with added electronic touches and is passionate but sombre.

‘Seven’ brings back the heaviness with brutal lyrics, drum work that hits to the core and comes complete with a rather disarming child-like voice reciting a spooked-up version of a famous nursery rhyme. Horror movie material, perhaps? Elsewhere, ‘Buried at Sea’ continues the poignant and emotive vocal work while the quick guitar work and heavy percussion roll into one to encapsulate River Becomes Ocean’s signature sound. Lastly, ‘For Now’ is as if a weight as been lifted off the shoulders of the previous song. Flowing harmonisation, the subtle use of acoustic guitar and the addition of soft female vocals mixed with the rasp of Marvin McMahon’s cleans makes for a bittersweet ending.

It seems as if the Brighton boys have been around a lot longer than just two records and they’ve definitely got this one down to a fine art. We’re looking forward to seeing what’s next up for the quartet as they’re definitely here to raise the stakes.

4/5

’December’ EP by River Becomes Ocean is out now.

River Becomes Ocean links: Website|Facebook|Twitter

Words by Phoebe Messenger (@/kangaezu_ni)