Ocean Sleeper are stepping into their biggest chapter yet.
The Gippsland metalcore force have announced that their long awaited sophomore album, Peace When I’m Dead, will be released globally on August 21 through BMG Australia and Rise Records.
Alongside the album announcement, Ocean Sleeper have unleashed the explosive title track and its striking official video, giving fans another powerful taste of what is shaping up to be a massive year for one of Australia’s hardest working heavy bands.
The new single follows the band’s defiant comeback track “Break The Cycle”, which arrived in May and has already passed 200,000 streams on Spotify while building serious momentum overseas. The song has also been picked up by SiriusXM stations Octane and Liquid Metal in the United States, proving that Ocean Sleeper’s reach is continuing to grow well beyond Australian shores.
“Peace When I’m Dead” takes that momentum and pushes it deeper.
Musically, the track carries the intensity, atmosphere and emotional release that Ocean Sleeper have built their name around, but it also finds the band opening themselves up in a brutally honest way. The song explores grief, guilt, regret, depression and the internal battles that can feel impossible to escape.
This has always been one of Ocean Sleeper’s greatest strengths. They do not shy away from the darker corners of the human experience. Instead, they drag those emotions into the open, give them weight, and turn them into something fans can scream back in a room full of people who understand exactly what those words mean.
Lead vocalist Karl Spiessl explains:
“This band has never been afraid to dive into the darker parts of our lives, and this album is no exception. At its core, the record explores the ongoing battle we have with ourselves, that constant inner struggle that can feel endless. It’s about coming to terms with the idea that this conflict may always be part of the human experience, and learning to accept that reality.”
The video once again sees Ocean Sleeper working with Freeman Films, following their collaboration on “Break The Cycle”. Known for work with Tones & I and Parkway Drive, Freeman Films have created an emotionally charged visual companion that matches the weight, grief and intensity of the song.
The title track became the perfect centrepiece for the album because it reflects not only the record’s themes, but Ocean Sleeper’s entire journey.
“Peace When I’m Dead” is built around the idea that life is a constant struggle, a balancing act between pressure, pain, resilience and the will to keep moving forward. Peace may never come easily, but there is strength in continuing to push through every fall.
Karl says:
“Nothing good comes easy and is worth every fall in pushing forward. For us, like many others, opportunities haven’t come easily to this band but we have worked tirelessly to achieve our wins and will continue to push forward until peace comes to us all.”
That determination has carried Ocean Sleeper from Gippsland in regional Victoria to stages across Australia and around the world.
This is a band that has built everything through persistence, self belief and serious hard work. They have created a deeply loyal global following without forgetting where they came from, and Peace When I’m Dead feels like the sound of all that struggle, growth and momentum finally coming together.
The album was written and recorded across multiple locations, including clean vocalist and guitarist Ionei Heckenberg’s home studio in Melbourne, as well as sessions in Los Angeles and Portland.
Ocean Sleeper enlisted some serious creative firepower to help bring the album to life. Jeff Dunne, known for his work with Make Them Suffer, Disturbed and Knocked Loose, handled mixing and mastering, while producers Jon Lundin and Curt Martin also contributed across the album.
Lundin’s credits include Falling In Reverse, Point North and Set It Off, while Martin has worked with Catch Your Breath and Kami Kehoe.
That global recording process feels fitting for a band whose world is expanding at a rapid pace.
Ocean Sleeper may have begun in regional Victoria, but their music is now reaching fans across the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom and beyond. Their emotionally charged take on metalcore has allowed them to connect with people who are carrying their own battles, and the band understand the power of turning that pain into something positive in a live setting.
Karl adds:
“Taking so many negative emotions and transforming them into something positive, almost spiritual for the live setting, where people can scream the words back and release their own demons, is something we’re proud to share with our fans. Peace When I’m Dead was written with live energy at its core, and we can’t wait to take it on tour.”
Australian fans will get that chance this September when Ocean Sleeper embark on their biggest national headline tour yet.
Presented by New World Artists and Fireball AU, the Peace When I’m Dead Tour begins at Liberty Hall in Sydney on September 4 before heading to Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne.
The tour finishes with a massive home state show at Melbourne’s Forum on September 12, which feels like the perfect place to celebrate just how far this band has come.
Ocean Sleeper Peace When I’m Dead Australian Tour 2026
Presented by New World Artists and Fireball AU
Friday September 4
Liberty Hall, Sydney, NSW
Saturday September 5
The Princess Theatre, Brisbane, QLD
Thursday September 10
Magnet House, Perth, WA
Friday September 11
Hindley St Music Hall, Adelaide, SA
Saturday September 12
Forum, Melbourne, VIC
Tickets are on sale now at:
https://www.oceansleeper.com/pages/tours
The Australian tour is only one part of a massive global run that will see Ocean Sleeper play 82 shows between now and February 2027.
The band will tour the United Kingdom and Europe supporting Nevertel in June and July, return home for their Australian headline shows in September, and then head to North America for another run with Nevertel.
October will also see Ocean Sleeper join Parkway Drive’s Hellbound Cruise before beginning 2027 with an extensive European and United Kingdom tour supporting Catch Your Breath.
That is a staggering amount of shows, but it also speaks volumes about where Ocean Sleeper are right now.
This is not a band waiting for opportunities to arrive. They have been building their own path, pushing through every obstacle and proving that a regional Australian metalcore band can take its music to the world through persistence, connection and an unwavering belief in what they are creating.
Peace When I’m Dead looks set to capture Ocean Sleeper at their most vulnerable, ambitious and determined.
The darkness is still there. The inner conflict is still there. But so is the resilience.
And with a new album, their biggest Australian headline tour and a mammoth global run ahead of them, Ocean Sleeper are not slowing down anytime soon.
Peace When I’m Dead will be released globally on August 21 through BMG Australia and Rise Records.
