Oceanic Ignition

“Oceanic Ignition” is the first track on my solo heavy metal album, The Human Element. It aims to paint a picture of the ocean, seemingly on fire due to an oil spill from an underwater pipeline. This has become an increasingly more common occurrence as oil drilling and refining has exponentially increased over the past century. When the infamous BP oil spill occurred at the Deepwater Horizon rig in 2010 – the largest oil spill in history – I was in my sophomore year of high school. I will never forget seeing the images on cable TV news of the ocean on fire and countless animals drenched and suffocating in the oil. It was at this moment that I became an advocate for conservationism and climate activism. Composing music on these themes is my effort at making activist art. In “Oceanic Ignition,” one can hear an untouched marine ecosystem in the gentle, undulating guitar rhythms which open the track. The 5/8 time signature, and conflicting accentuations of that meter between all the instruments and synths in the track, creates a sense of controlled chaos. This is often how nature can appear to us humans, especially so as our lives have gone increasingly indoors. We are not as connected to the natural world as we once were, and I believe this is part of the reason that our environment is slowly collapsing around us. As the introduction of the track meanders along through these interacting rhythms, it finally builds to a climactic entrance for the metal band. This moment is meant to convey the explosion of a pipeline underwater. The following music generates a somewhat chaotic feeling, as riffs flow into one another and rarely repeat themselves in another section of the piece. This captures the human effort to clean up a spill, culminating in a breakdown section at the end of the track. This breakdown represents the unfortunate reality that the ecosystem has been heavily damaged and may not ever reclaim its former glory. At least, not for a very, very long time. As with all of the tracks on The Human Element, “Oceanic Ignition” aims to raise awareness for the dangers that our industry and activities cause. These beautiful places on our planet must be conserved and protected for future generations.