Album – Peace When I’m Dead
Artist – Ocean Sleeper
Track Count – 11
5 Star Tracks – 1 (“Peace When I’m Dead”)
4 Star Tracks – 6 (“My Forever Drug”, “Someone Better”, “Forgive”, “Promise”, “Taste” & “Skin Deep”)
Metric Rating (AVG) – 8.43
Metric Rating (Bonuses) – 8.70
2026 Ranking To Date (8/9/2026) – 9th
Did Ocean Sleeper just drop a Sleeper for album of the year? This intern thinks yes!
Releasing on August 28th, 2026, the Gippsland, Australia quartet will release their sophomore album Peace When I’m Dead, a spectacular follow-up to their most recent release, EP Maybe Death Is All I Need. This album is yet another feat in an already huge year for Ocean Sleeper, in which they signed to label Rise Records and BMG Australia, and have released three singles that have already amassed over 1.3 million streams on Spotify!
The album starts off with the very danceable “Every Part Of Me” that displays the clean vocals of Ionei Heckenberg, whose line “Am I worth the pain?” gives this otherwise relaxing song an emotional element. Now if you were missing lead vocalist Karl Spiessl’s screams, lead single “Break The Cycle” is just the song for you! Melding both Spiessl and Heckenberg’s vocals to create a sneak peak for the rest of the album. The most recent release from the album, “My Forever Drug” has been the most successful single of the bunch, garnering over half a million streams in just over a month since its’ release, and for good reason! The catchy chorus and brutal breakdown give off classic Ocean Sleeper vibes, and the line “You’ve taken enough! I can’t let you go!” once again brings deeper meaning to a song I’ve spent a lot of time jamming to.
The next three songs are some of the heaviest these guys have released in a MINUTE with the first of those being my personal favorite off the album, the self-titled “Peace When I’m Dead”. The second this one blessed my ears back on June 10th I knew this album was going to be special, and the rest of the album proves me right. This song is a DISPLAY of both guitarist Stan Liagourdis and drummer Daniel Stivens, whose stellar work throughout, and especially during Spiessl’s masterful breakdown bring this song to life. Now how about “Punishment”? This one’s the personal favorite of the Boss, and the everlasting riff throughout this song keeps the energy at an all time high. And for all my moshers out there? You might have a new favorite! Like “Punishment”, “Someone Better” is another barnburner, with another sick riff around the 2:30 mark of the song melding perfectly with yet another Spiessl ripper.
What I love about this album is that it’s a JOURNEY and the song that encapsulates that the best on this album is “Forgive”, a song that transitions from guttural screams to smooth cleans in such a way that you don’t even notice until you’re a few listens in. The song ends with Spiessl preaching that “I won’t forgive anything”, and you should rather “slit my throat and watch me choke”. Hardcore right? As a sucker for a beat, “Promise” has some poppy moments that get me moving, and is somewhat of a middleman between “Forgive” and “Taste”. Speaking of “Taste”, a song with a little bit of everything! It even has a blegh!
Onto my favorite riff of the album as an absolute shredder from Liagourdis starts off “Skin Deep”, a song that showcases the band chemistry with Heckenberg and Stivens working together for certain parts and Spiessl and Liagourdis taking over the song at other points. What I always look for in a band with multiple vocalists is how they can work together to take choruses to the next level, and this one shows how they can elevate one another to the best version of themselves.
Now the big question, can Ocean Sleeper finish off their second album with a bang? OF COURSE they can! “Take Me To The Grave” is exactly the sendoff that Peace When I’m Dead was looking for, with a flowy first half that features one of the best choruses on the LP, and one last brutal scream to leave us wanting more.
Ocean Sleeper knocked it out of the park with Peace When I’m Dead, and I’m honored to have been able to listen early and voice my thoughts on it. If you’re looking to see these guys live (you are), catch them at select shows throughout Australia in the first two weeks of September, for my American readers, make sure you check them out on the “OTHERSIDE” tour as main support for Nevertel (Along with Rivals and featuring a stop at Worcester’s Palladium that you can grab advance tickets for here), and for y’all across the pond, try and make it out to the “Not Broken Enough” tour where they will be supporting Catch Your Breath!
And that’s all from RNRF’s favorite intern!
Pre-save/pre-order Peace When I’m Dead ahead of the August 28th street date through Rise Records by heading here or here then head here, here, here or here for the Ocean Sleeper socials!