“Laughing Tears, Crying Smile” is already the second album of this Belgian sextet that won the Metal Bash several years ago and consequently a place on the camping stage of Dynamo Open Air. Now, some years later, that promising band, that took the underground metal world by surprise, shows its true talent. “Laughing Tears, Crying Smile” is one of the most diverse albums that my ears have ever had the pleasure to hear. Black metal, death metal, gothic metal and just straightforward heavy metal, it is all on this album in a mix of splendorous metal that shines with atmosphere and feeling. The album starts with an excellent melodic black metal song, “Sinner’s Dream”, in the vein of Dimmu Borgir, which might sound corny but not to worry because Oceans Of Sadness manages to make even a song like this sound sincere and original. However, as the album progresses you slowly start to realize, that Oceans Of Sadness doesn’t play simple melodic black metal like the masses, but intricate dark metal that spans many different types of metal. The diverse “One Entire Shield Of Pain”, the melancholic “Cold”, which sends shivers down your spine and the aggressive “From The Seed Of The Flower”; it just goes to show that the diversity of this album just doesn’t know any limits.

A myriad of influences shines through the powerful and diverse compositions, but most of all Oceans Of Sadness manages to sound original and refreshing. The songwriting is solid and the melodies sound original, and while one might argue that Tijs Vanneste’s vocals are too rough and limited, I have to say that it is really his vocals that add the final touch to this excellent album. Ok, they ARE slightly limited and rough but don’t they sound sincere, full of emotion? Emotion, exactly the word that fully describes the grandness of this band; exactly the thing that so many bands nowadays seem to forget or maybe even seem to think unimportant. But also exactly the thing that sets a band like Oceans Of Sadness apart from the masses and which makes this album a pleasure to listen to, over and over again. Listening to “Laughing Tears, Crying Smile” is a trip full of emotions as the title of the album already indicates, and a very successful one at that. Thumbs up for this Belgian sextet, may many other bands follow in their wake!