Summer Series Part 2: Three Steps to the Ocean: S/T

Today I'm taking a look at Three Steps to the Ocean's self titled EP. Three steps to the Ocean are the exact kind of band I want to highlight with this summer series I'm doing. They're the kind of band that, despite being pretty good, won't get a lot of love from a lot of people who review records. Why? Because they fit into that whole "there are too many bands that sound like this" narrative.

"Sounds like Isis" has become the metal-review equivalent of "tastes like chicken." It's an easy thing to throw out there to explain something you're not quite sure how to explain. If you say "sounds like Isis" people go "oh," and everyone's happy.

And sure, Three Steps to the Ocean sound a little like Isis. But they sound more like Envy. They draw a lot on hardcore, particularly of the European variety. They're more Red Scare than Red Sea. There's a lot of City of Caterpillar, Buried Inside, Yage, Amanda Woodward, etc., going on in Three Steps to the Ocean's sound.

Like ToMyDeepestEgo they are from Italy, which apparently has the greatest scene in the world right now. And, like other European bands of this style, such as Year of No Light and Vanessa Van Basten, they have a style which involves a lot of ebbing and flowing, building up from lighter parts to heavier parts, and monumental shifts in the level of intensity. Three Steps to the Ocean do the whole thing quite well, I might add, and really left me wanting more.

This is a REAL short record, which actually works in their favor, I think, because it feels almost like one, very organic, 20 minute song. You almost never have time to catch your breath the entire record. It hits you with one part after another, and when they let up for a minute or two you know they're going to ratchet it back up as soon as they get the chance.

You know, European metal and hardcore bands just have this........ thing. I can't place my finger on it. Like, they tend to be more melodic, or something, than American bands. I've always liked it, though. Our band's bass player, Nader, who's our resident Black Metal guy, tends to say that he's always liked European metal better than American metal (particularly in the death metal category) because of that melody. I'm not sure if I like it better per se, but it definitely is a nice counterpoint to a lot of heavy stuff which doesn't have the same catchy quality to it.

I should probably point out that the record never gets particularly HEAVY, by any stretch of the imagination. It gets kind of heavy, but I think the better word to describe it would be EPIC. It has a very cascading, shimmering quality to it, and when they move from the clean channel build ups to the distorted mountains of riffs it feels pretty satisfying. I was in New York over the weekend, and my bag was REAL fucking heavy and I had to carry it from the train to the hotel room which was a long fucking walk. When Three Steps to the Ocean busts out the distortion after a build up it feels like I felt when I dropped that duffel bag to the floor. Like a weight has literally been lifted off your shoulders.

So definitely check this record out if you're a fan of the epic instru-metal type stuff.

I'm two reviews into my series and I've already had two good Italian instru-metal records to keep me company this summer. I'm a happy boy.

What is it? It's it. What is it? It's it.

Three Steps to the Ocean's Website
Three Steps to the Ocean on MySpace