It's fitting that iTunes lists Portland, Maine's Ocean as "unclassifiable." To the average ear, this is some otherworldly din, slower than slow, heavier than heavy, creeping forward like a wounded, angry, lumbering beast. To those out in the radio/MTV friendly world, a band like Ocean defies the standard benchmark of what?s considered "heavy." It's a foul, impenetrable wall of noise that gets uglier and meaner as it progresses.
To those with a more varied and experienced taste in music, though, Ocean is simply doom as fuck. Their full-length debut, Here Where Nothing Grows, is a three song, hour-long affair that begs the question, "Can a band play so slow as to make time stop?" "First Reign," "Salt," and "The Fall" move at their own speed, but they avoid monotony by the subtle use of dynamics and an excellent sense of mood. Doom?s supposed to be grim, and these guys lay that on thick. Of the three, "Salt," is the best of the lot, as it really builds up the tension throughout its 19+ minutes.

Here Where Nothing Grows is killer work, similar to Buried at Sea and Indians recently released The Unquiet Sky. For those who expect their heads to be caved in by an avalanche of distortion.