Details
"Heavy Is the Ocean" is characterised by a sound described Phonotonal Magazine as "slow but heavy-hitting", opening with the bass, described as the "star" of the song, which is later accompanied by what has been described as "crashing drums and a smouldering guitar". [3] Loudersound described the riffs that characterise the song as being reminiscent of grunge mainstays Alice in Chains and even heavy metal trailblazers Black Sabbath. [4] Wall of Sound Australia similarly described the track as "stoner-Sabbath stuff". [5] Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic described the track as stomping though "old-school sludge". [1]
Upon having recorded the track, frontman and songwriter Gavin Rossdale decided that the song should open The Art of Survival, with Rossdale explaining in September 2022: "it really sets the tone and the gravitas of the album. I love the power of the ocean. It’s mesmerizing to me. It feeds your soul". [2] Discussing the theme of the song, Rossdale told Kerrang! in October 2022: "things were so bad for so many people [during the pandemic]. And it just kind of hit me one day: that's what [the record] should be. And it makes perfect sense. "Heavy Is the Ocean" is sort of the universal acceptance of that – everyone's had mad suffering, but it's finding the way through it." [6]
"Heavy Is the Ocean" is in the key of F and has a tempo of 117 BPM.
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