Six tracks make up Nexus, the new OCEAN OF ILLUSIONS EP scheduled for digital release on October 30, 2026, through Bleeding Art Collective. Mixed and mastered by Dave Ricco of Face Yourself, the release follows the New Jersey band's 2025 singles “Nexus” and “Doomed.”
The running order opens with “Nexus,” followed by “Doomed,” “Imminent Incursion,” “Ash Hoarder,” “A Breath To Conquer The World” and “Illuminating In Pain.” The announcement places the EP within the band's death metal and deathcore repertoire, citing influences that extend from European melodic death metal to djentcore and New York death metal.
For OCEAN OF ILLUSIONS, the title reflects the connections between the members' approaches to writing. Rather than beginning with a single stylistic blueprint, they set out to incorporate individual contributions into their existing sound. “The plan was to have every member write a song in their style and we mesh it into what we already had going,” the band explains.
That process involved uncertainty as well as collaboration. “We were anxious and had doubts but once the finished product came out, we were surprised with the outcome,” they say. The band describes considerable back and forth during the EP's development, with differing emotional perspectives contributing to the material's range.
Some of those connections reach back to Unrecognizable, their 2022 debut album. The group distinguishes those thematic links from its instrumental approach: “While some of the tracks may be callbacks to Unrecognizable thematically, instrumentally we experimented with different styles for this EP.”
The supplied background also identifies the earlier single “Helminth” and highlights dynamics, hooks and breakdowns as elements of the band's music. OCEAN OF ILLUSIONS have shared stages with The Black Dahlia Murder, Ingested, The Last Ten Seconds Of Life and Bodysnatcher. Their partnership with Bleeding Art Collective brings Nexus to a digital release the day before Halloween.
The announced lineup consists of Zachary Howard on vocals, Kedwin Ramirez on drums and Kevin Kim on guitar.