Band:	Three Steps To The Ocean
Album:	Migration Light
Style:	Post-metal
Release date:	March 10, 2015
A review by:	tea[m]ster

01. They
02. Sur
03. Dust Bowl
04. Sulaco
05. I End
06. Wooden Shelter
07. Primordial Leavers

Three Steps To The Ocean are a four-piece instrumental band from Italy. They have been around for quite a while, having released three records since 2007. They play a specific style of atmospheric post rock/metal with some sludge, doom and experimental touches. Migration Light is the fourth title in their catalog, continuing what has been one of more remarkable "fly under the radar" kind of rides I have ever seen. It's been a very secretive trudge through the desensitized network of post rock/metal for Three Steps To The Ocean, and they may be one of the best bands doing it that you've never heard of.

Again, to gain notoriety, "post" bands nowadays have to sound different than other "post" bands or do the generic blue print very well. Three Steps To The Ocean have embraced and done both superbly. The guitars feature heavenly tremolo-picked textures, light feedback riffs and raw, layered, down tuned chord progressions. The bass and drums sound particularly dense and when added to very pronounced ethereal keyboards, electronics and programming, Migration Light is an ever-evolving project featuring the best mixtures of dark post rock and organic sludge metal. Doom, black metal, and some ambient junctures give the album some variety and the production is done so well one might think this band is part of some huge record company. This may all seem intricate but Three Steps To The Ocean have managed to create an audio pronunciation that's very plausible, emotional and fun to listen to.

Migration Light is a rather short excursion for music of this kind. Clocking in at just over 30 minutes, Three Steps To The Ocean have delicately mingled many musical influences into a meaningful, compact package. There is plenty of ingenuity, depth and value to satisfy the most hardcore post rock/metal enthusiast while also being able to hold enough interest to metal music lovers new to the genre. All of the different musical traits in Migration Light never feel rushed, fake, or bombastic. We metal music veterans know when a band is trying to pull a fast one on us just for the sake of sounding divergent. Three Steps To The Ocean are legitimate.

For a similar band taste, if you dig Year Of No Light, head on over to Three Steps To The Ocean's bandcamp page. You can download their ENTIRE discography for free. I have thrown them a few bucks, hopefully helping them garner the recognition they so well deserve.