Manila’s music scene is about to witness a new wave, and it’s not just because of the traffic. Ocean Summit‘s latest release, “Kobayashi Maru,” dropped on December 2, 2023, is thrusting the Manila post-hardcore band into the spotlight once again. Picture Joseph Charles “Baltz” Baltazar on vocals, Jok Oloquina and Topher Oliva shredding guitars, Mong Vicente laying down the bass, and Renzo Triguero smashing the drums—now that’s a lineup you’d want front and center!
The band’s journey began in 2018, trying to blend the mellow vibes of post-rock with the raw energy of hardcore. Then, in swooped Baltz in 2019, adding a spark that turned their sound from a flicker to a blaze. Fast forward to 2023, and they’ve got Mong keeping the bass lines bold and booming.
Kobayashi Maru, their latest drop, is an auditory Star Trek adventure. It kicks off with an intro that’s as mystical as finding a hidden warp speed button. But then, BAM! You’re hit with rock so powerful it’s like the Millennium Falcon hitting lightspeed. Baltz’s vocals? Smooth as a tribble’s fur, giving you major 2000s emo nostalgia vibes. And that chorus? Stickier than Vulcan glue.
The lyrics? Oh, they’re weaving a tale, alright—a tale of struggle and a plea for peace, wrapped up in lines like “Take me to the time when we can breathe.” It’s all about accepting the inevitable, beautifully captured in, “I’ll be gone along with the memory.”
Kobayashi Maru is Ocean Summit’s shout-out to the post-hardcore cosmos, a proof to their ability to blend soul-stirring stories with musical genius. It’s the kind of song that’ll have you saying, “Beam me up, Ocean Summit! I want more!”
