In a world of metalcore music often dominated by themes of despair and societal collapse, Oceans & Omens emerge as a refreshing counterpoint. Their unique sound weaves a fantastical narrative, inviting listeners into an epic story with each heavy-hitting track.
Recently, we had the opportunity to catch up with Rowan Leah, the band’s lead guitarist and songwriter, to discuss their journey, their latest release ‘II:Aether’, and the captivating concept behind their music.
It’s great to be able to catch up with you, Rowan, thanks for taking the time to answer some of our questions. When did you first start making music? Where did it all begin, and what inspired you?
“My parents did that thing where they tried to get me to play an instrument at an early age. I started classical guitar lessons with a pint-sized acoustic at the age of eight and hated EVERY minute of it! Needless to say, when they stopped pushing me to go to lessons, I gave up the first opportunity I got.”
“Fast forward six to seven years and I was your regular teenager listening to whatever pop culture was shoving down my throat. At that time, it was all Snow Patrol, Cold Play, Gwen Stephani, etc (not to say there is anything wrong with that music, I like ‘Chasing Cars’ just as much as the next person). But basically, I had no individual music identity. Then along comes one of my old primary school friends who I hadn’t seen in years, and he listened to ‘metal’. Yuck! You mean that goth/emo depressing crap? (Baaaaaah. Like I said, sheep. I had never actually given the stuff a proper listen.)”
“Anyway, he basically said “here, listen to this”, and that was the first time I heard ‘M.I.A’ by Avenged Sevenfold. My mind exploded. I had never heard guitars sing like that, choruses that catchy, music so f**king epic it gave me goosebumps. I was hooked. Where had this been all my life? Next thing I did was go out by an Ibanez GAX and a little Roland cube and away I went. This stuff made me want to play guitar. I didn’t really like the heavier screaming genres at first, but my palette developed, my tastes got progressively got heavier and I started listening to bands like Trivium, Lamb of God and As I Lay Dying. Then I found Parkway Drive… I surfed, I was a SCUBA bum and then there were these guys that did exactly the same thing, writing songs that resonated with me on such a primal level that I was captivated. This is when I was inspired to have a crack at writing my own songs and everything just kind of snowballed from there.”
You're back after a bit of a hiatus, how important was that for you?
“The ten years between ‘To The Depths’ and ‘Oceans & Omens’ was due to me moving away from Australia. I left in 2014 and moved to Dubai for a few years. After a little more globetrotting I ended up in Mission Beach, just South of Cairns. This was between 2019 and 2023. Kieran came over to see me for a short break on the way to Japan so I could take him diving on the Barrier Reef. One afternoon when we were kicking back and downing a few cold ones I just came out with ‘’Dude. I’m back in Australia. We should start the band back up.’’ And he concurred.”
“When he got back to Perth, he circulated a few ads for a vocalist and that’s how we ended up netting Sean. After that, it wasn’t too long before Aaron and Nathan came on board and then it became a case of me flying back and forth every few months to play gigs, record material and so on. This became a bit of a juggling act over the course of about two years until I could relocate permanently back to Perth. The band was always the big dream, and we wanted to give it a solid go, so here I am back in WA with a rock-solid line-up of mates and we are giving it our all.”
Can you tell us a bit about the new album and where it began?
“I started writing ‘Aether’ even before I left Perth… It has been a little while in the making. Ironically, I started with the last song, so ‘Surfacing’ is the oldest of the lot. ‘Limbo’ and ‘Desolation’ were written over a protracted period while I was away just as and when I had the inspiration. I actually stopped playing for quite a while. There may have even been a duration of about three years where I didn’t even pick up a guitar. I was going through a pretty dark patch. ‘Final Breath’, ‘The Voidsworn’ and ‘Echo in Eternity’ were smashed out pretty quick once we made the decision to fire up the band wagon again and it was a no brainer to continue the original concept. So, the story was all there, albeit a rough outline. It just took a little distilling of a particular chapter of the overall story arc to narrow down what each song was going to cover thematically. “
The album has such an interesting and immersive concept, how did you begin to bring that together?
“We needed to set the stage for the calamitous events yet to unfold later in the narrative. ‘Descent’ was the beginning of the story but, though it laid decent foundations, not a lot of ground gets covered in those four songs. Lost at sea, an ignored plea to the heavens, visions of life passing before our protagonists’ eyes and being claimed at the bottom of the ocean by our aquatic hell beast. ‘Aether’ gave us a chance to introduce the real threat into the story and weave in themes of gods, demons and prophetic visions of what is to befall humanity. All of which hint at the sheer scale of this saga we plan to share with you all.”
Are there any artists, moments, or experiences that influenced you when writing the project?
“The ocean is my big thing. Whether I’m surfing on it, swimming in it or diving under it, it fuels my creativity and permeates my songwriting. Seriously, I would be dead in the water (please excuse the pun) if I wasn’t able to paddle out on my board and just zen out. So, it goes without saying that a nautical theme is a very prominent element in the music and time and again the narrative of the story will veer back to its oceanic origins. You just can’t escape the gravity of something as primal, elemental and changeable as the ocean. It’s captivating.”
“Funnily enough, bar a handful of specific bands, I don’t actually listen to a lot of metal on a regular basis. Aaron is always throwing new bands and songs into our ‘music recommendations’ channel on Discord. The guy is a champion at rooting out fresh released material but the vast majority of it just doesn’t resonate with me. At the same time, I don’t really think you can hear elements of ABBA, Miami Sound Machine, Gypsie Kings, UB40 and Dire Straits in our music…. So, I don’t think I am terribly influenced by what I often listen to. If anything, it’s the fantasy books I am prone to reading that sculpt the overall theme of the concept. I love the worldbuilding, magic systems (yes, I am a nerd) and just general creative flare. Some of the authors I read come up with some pretty amazing material.”
What is your songwriting process? How does it all come together on an album like this?
“Once I have decided what chunk of the story arc is going to be covered in a particular release, I then do a bit more detailed storyboarding to have an idea of the themes and topics I want to cover. The selected act then gets broken down further into each individual song and once I have the outline of each theme, I then begin putting music to it. Some songs have a title already, some come about with a few snatches of lyrics but generally, there is some form of thematic anchor that I work around. Each song then becomes a scenescape in my head and it’s what I can imagine scoring music to a film is like. I see things happening in my mind's eye and go ‘’I want something like ‘this’ there’’, ‘’that battle needs a fast riff’’, ‘’that sweeping scene scape needs an epic solo’’ and I start writing as and when the creative mood hits.”
“I’m very particular about the ‘’feel’’ of the music and I often come up with perfectly catchy riffs and melodies that get put in the riff bank for later because they just don’t gel with what is currently going on in my head. It can be a bit laborious sometimes and I’m sure there’s a nice imprint of my forehead on my desk from where I beat myself bloody with frustration from time to time. But I like to think that the results me being a diva speak for themselves…. I’m certainly proud of them.”
How would you describe the sound on your latest release? Has there been a change or evolution in style since you first began?
“More mature? I started writing ‘Descent’ when I was in my late teens, heavily influenced by that early 2000 metalcore. Everything was fast and everything was hectic. That’s great, it’s energetic, gets you psyched up… That is until you give yourself RSI trying to play the damn stuff. Fast forward ten years and the stuff I’m writing now is a lot more groove orientated. There’s far more dynamic fluctuation and flow in each song and personally I think we have developed our own signature sound. Afterall, who tackles the theme of dying in the ocean better than ‘Oceans & Omens’? There’s a lot of darker material on this record.”
“Like I said prior, I went through a bit of a dark patch in those intervening years and that spawned ‘Limbo’ and ‘Desolation’. Combine those two songs with some of the disgustingly brutal vocals Sean paired with ‘The Voidsworn’ and you have yourself a few tracks that have the potential to incur some night terrors.”
Is there a central message or theme you were trying to convey in your latest release? Is there a moment in the release that really captures that idea?
“Not as much in 'Aether', no. It’s more of a narrative chunk of the saga if anything. An introduction to the antagonist and his hordes of darkness so to speak. You could argue there are themes of self-reflection, inner strength and devoting yourself to a higher purpose. But that’s all coincidentally happenstance as the story unfolds and The Survivor’s character evolves and grows. These themes are secondary to the overall story arc at this point. There’s going to be a lot of allegorical material and underpinning themes and messages in the next release as we delve into the heavy topics of society’s eroding moral fibre and the subtle subversion of the soul that in the end leads towards embracing the darkness… But that is all to come. And be sure, it will include grotesque amounts of blood, violence and vengeance. Fun stuff!”
Is there anything you would like to say to our audience?
“If you have made it this far, thank you so much for giving us a little of your time. We love what we do and strive to make music that will resonate with listeners. Hopefully, it’s something a bit different to everything else out there and hopefully it’s something that will grab and hold your attention. We will endeavour as always to expand our reach and grow so that we can introduce as many people as possible to this epic saga we want to tell the world. If you think us worthy, please spread the word and don’t hesitate to get in touch.”
“We love hearing from people and engaging with our audience. One last thing before I sign off: Just like with ‘Descent’, Sean is working on a D&D campaign to accompany this release. I can’t give you a date for its completion yet but if that kind of thing floats your boat, then keep your eyes open! Until then, thank you again and in the words of Bill and Ted: ‘’Be excellent to each other. And party on!’’
Comprised of Rowan Leah, Aaron Ganley, Nathan Menage, Kieran Wallace, and Sean O’Brien, Oceans & Omens have proven themselves a force to be reckoned with. Receiving airplay on national metal radio station The Faction, the remainder of 2021 saw them appearing live alongside Perth metalcore acts Our Demise, scene heavyweights Patient Sixty-Seven, and Perth metal legends Paradise In Exile.
Exploding back into the scene with the new album, the band continue to impress, creating a powerful collection of songs that shine with depth, story, and atmosphere. You can stream ‘Aether’ now on all your favourite platforms.
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