Oceans Of Slumber’s Cammie Gilbert: 10 albums that changed my life

“Anything by that band is unmistakeably dark to me. It has to be taken in doses. I think if a psychologist were to look at it they’d be like, ‘Yeah this needs to be off the list if you have suicidal tendencies or dark thoughts.’ The weight as soon as the guitars hit, the distortion and the atmosphere just consumes your whole head. It takes you under, and puts you in a place where frequencies touch on feelings you can’t get away from. It can’t be interpreted any other way.”

“She is dark alternative, very mellow and atmospheric, folky even. There’s a very lucid, dreamy feel to this album in particular. I like things that make me feel like I’m somewhere else. We fell asleep to this album for a full year. It’s pleasant in the way of when you’re sitting outside, under a tree and it’s summertime, but you get those whiffs of a cool breeze coming through. It’s overcast and it’s not raining yet, but it’s right there and it’s that little moment of serenity before you get rained on. It feels so magical to be between the weather changing sometimes.”

“This was formative, Little Baby Cammie music. It reminds me why I love the kind of music that I make. It spoke to me at a time when I felt not a lot of people related to things I was feeling, to the depth that I was feeling. It showed me I could have that rawness to my voice.”

“I love Anathema. This [album] gives me more hope and good feelings than some of their other albums do. There’s such a spirit, an awakening and a rejuvenation to their songs, while keeping that sombre undertone. There’s a life and an electricity, they make very grandiose songs.”

“She’s a more recent discovery, a beautiful singer, amazing songwriter, something all her own. It’s a great musical experience, you can appreciate all the layers, the technicality and the instrumentation. Her voice on this album is in English, and it’s in [Eivør’s native tongue] Faroese. It has such a witchy dark folk vibe to it and also some electronica.”

“We’re huge fans of Evergrey. I feel like this album just tore open my heart and always pulls me into this energy and the experiences Tom [vocalist Tom S. Englund] is talking about. It’s a go-to pretty routinely. He’s an incredibly soulful great singer and I feel like Oceans is relatively similar to them especially some of the ballads we make. That’s a great album, super heavy.”

“This is one of those albums that makes me always feel lovesick. It’s pretty romantic, not in a crooner way obviously, but in that sad longing and storytelling. I really like this album. I think it’s sweet and sad and it’s good for having on in the evenings.”

“This is the same vein as Katatonia for me. I really like it’s more subtle heaviness and then it has this beautiful, melodic quality that pulls you into the story and a place that is so cold and feels so different from where I am; the woods, in a climate where it snows. It makes me almost at home somewhere I’ve never been.”

“They only have the one album, the self-titled. The singer’s name is Dax Riggs. This album was one of the last ones where he did this style of singing, and now he’s dramatically changed how he sounds, but it’s along that same vein of Alice In Chains. It’s real grungy and raw, and the songs are not confusing, but have that style that’s more abstract and about darker things. It’s such a haunting, little dirty album.”

“I love Peter Steele. We love Type O Negative, there’s  just nothing like it. We go through a lot of his albums but that’s the main one for me. I love Cinnamon Girl, Be My Druidess and also Wolf Moon. Dobber saw them live once. Super jealous. I’ve just had to make up for it by reading the autobiography, and he buys everything he can as far as media regarding the band. It’s an experience to go through their songs. He [Peter Steele] ia such a clever lyricist. It’s the funniest kind of music I feel like I listen to. It brings up my energy and makes me happy.”