Phantom Islands by Ocean Districts: Album Review

by Damien Reid May 25, 2023

May 25, 2023

Phantom Islands by Ocean Districts: Album Review

Ocean Districts make beautiful post-rock music. Their album “Phantom Islands” is for anyone who enjoys peaceful and uplifting guitar melodies that are shaped into works of art. From incredible distortion riff segments to clean chord structures, the entirety of the album has an abundance of cadence for any rock fan to adore. Aside from that, interesting time signatures are shaped with percussions, and it’s a joy to witness it all.

We start our journey with Ocean Districts’ opening song, “Ravensrodd.” It’s a captivating track, beginning with a serene guitar sequence. Eventually, it transcends into this powerful crescendo of post-rock through power chords and an epic drummer leading the charge. The next number, “Lemuria,” has intricate guitar arpeggios that combine beautifully with deep basslines and a funky drum segment. I especially liked the part where the guitar slides into a specific segment, that was such a smooth transition! “Fata Morgana” introduces vocals to the album so far, since the first two were purely instrumental. Anyway, the singer’s aura is pretty influential, and their voice has an incredible depth to it. You can feel the passion with each sentence, and it’s fascinating to hear.

“Emerald Island” builds upon the structures of math rock and adds to the atmosphere of post-rock. While “Frisland” has one of the best basslines of the album and eventually ends with a lovely wave of ambient guitar that’ll calm your woes and liberate your soul.