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OCEANS OF SLUMBER Drummer Dobber Beverly “There are a lot of pitfalls with having a band”

By capitalchaostv on September 17, 2024 • ( 0 )

OCEANS OF SLUMBER defy any and all conventions. For the past 15 years, the band have redefined the Southern Gothic by casting their tales of hope and despair against an ever-shifting backdrop of melodic death, doom and black metal, with subtle electronic flourishes and classical composition added for good measure.

But their new album expands their progressive vision to the hi-def scope of a Hollywood blockbuster. Each song acts as another gripping plot twist along its grand narrative arc.

The new OCEANS OF SLUMBER full length, “Where Gods Fear to Speak” came out last Friday, September 13, and you can hear all ten monumental songs now by listening to the full album stream in the video below.

Capital Chaos TV: We have Dobber Beverly founding member and drummer of Oceans of Slumber, currently also with Necrofier, Infernal Dominion and more, is that correct?

Dobber Beverly: Necrofier yes. Infernal Dominion, inactive on that side.

Capital Chaos TV: You’re very active in both Oceans of Slumber and Necrofier. Is that correct?

Dobber Beverly: At this time anyways, I am.

Capital Chaos TV: And I see, I see you; you are both playing a show together with God Forbid. At the Metal Injection Festival? Is that right?

Dobber Beverly: Yes. Uh, it’s on the 21st of September.

Capital Chaos TV: That’s going to be interesting. And, you have it spaced out to where it’s going to work, I imagine.

Dobber Beverly: Yeah. Necrofier is on tour with a Goatwhore across the US, and we are playing the Metal Injection Festival that day, and then Oceans is playing later that day. So, double duty for me.

Capital Chaos TV: Double duty, double pay. It’s a beautiful thing.

Dobber Beverly: Yeah.

Capital Chaos TV: And, what have been the biggest challenges of keeping any band together?

Dobber Beverly: The drive, depends on how far you’re trying to take a band. Financial means. Depending on geographical location, sometimes members, sometimes band members are, very much in need of more work or more activity, which is completely understandable, and long amounts of downtime and inactivity, kill bands off because it’s hard to keep five people on the same schedule. And so, there are a lot of pitfalls with having a band, especially if the band is wanting to do more than it’s, allowed to do. And then if a band is wanting to be so active and, financially it can’t support five, you know, five to six people. That’s a lot to ask.

Capital Chaos TV: And the new record, “Where God’s Fear to Speak”, same great quality from Oceans of Slumber, nine originals and a cover. How did that finality come about? How do you decide other than the budgetary issues, how do you decide we’re done?

Dobber Beverly: That part just kind of reveals itself. I mean, we know there’s a run time, we know that there’s a material length and run time, and all of that stuff. So, I write songs until I feel like I’m finished with telling a story of the record, and then that’s it. That’s the end of it. So sometimes there’s 10 songs, sometimes there’s 12 songs. It just kind of depends on where I am with all of it.

Capital Chaos TV: And how would you best describe Oceans of Slumber sound to someone who just started listening to your band?

Dobber Beverly: That’s difficult. I used to tell people it was a a mixture between something like Hypocrisy and Pink Floyd, with powerful soul vocals. And now, I would roughly say the same except for it would be just for continuity and ease of explanation for modern listeners. I would say it’s something between Hans Zimmer and Gojira and a little bit of everything in between and outside of.

Capital Chaos TV: What have the new members brought that may have been missing?

Dobber Beverly: I don’t know that anything’s really been missing. And I say that, like we haven’t been looking for much, the new guys were brought in for their specialties, but the music has already been written like almost to the t by the time that they’re brought in. So, there are certain parts of flair and solos and things like that are left up to them and their interpretation, but that’s about it.

Capital Chaos TV: How much of what was written and recorded made it onto the final product?

Dobber Beverly: Oh, every bit of it, there’s a few additional pieces of music that aren’t going to be on the record or on this version of the record because they’re getting put on another project.

Capital Chaos TV: I really like the cover artwork. Where did you get the idea for the cover?

Dobber Beverly: It’s an old friend that we’ve worked with before he did our self-titled record and our first album, Aetherial, a Greek friend named Giannis Nakos. And, I give him my basic concept, and then I’ll let him kind of transmit that and have whatever way that he wants to fill in colors. And the idea is, a monolith with a tiny person approaching it. And, these are the colors I want, and then he kind of interprets that his way, and that’s what we have.

Capital Chaos TV: And how much of the new one can we expect to hear live? And has your entire catalog been performed?

Dobber Beverly: No, on the entire catalog and the new one, you know, we’ll probably play four or five songs off of it when we tour with it, just because we have so much to pick from. You know, maybe not necessarily just the singles but some other stuff off the record that we want to play live.

Capital Chaos TV: Well, cool. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today. The new album comes out, on September 9th. It’s, a banger as always; like I said, always great quality from you and Oceans of Slumber. I might also add great quality with Necrofier. I saw you guys in Oakland. And the album, from what I’ve heard, is pretty amazing. We look forward to catching you on the road, I imagine, you have some road plans for this year for both bands.

Dobber Beverly: With Necrofier, yes. With Oceans, no. Opportunities aren’t crazy for, bands like Ocean of Slumber in the United States. So, we, we just kind of wait and sit by the phone until something comes up.