Out now via Metal Blade Records / Pelagic Records, The Ocean’s eighth full-length album, Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic, is more of their same successful formula; dramatic openings, emotional-filled endings, and signature blood curdling barking vocals.
A swarm of underground metal and rock bands invaded Leeds University Union once again this month for the fourteenth installment of the UK’s Damnation Festival. PureGrainAudio was there to experience the now-legendary energy and diversity for which the festival is known.
Norwegian metal royalty, Ihsahn and Polish black metal pilgrims, Batushka are the first acts announced for this year’s Damnation Festival.
The Ocean have announced that they have began work on their eighth studio record, Phanerozoic, due for release in October.
How do you explain The Ocean to the uninitiated? You could mention sub-genres like prog metal or post metal… but that wouldn’t be fair. You could say that the band have five previous full-lengths spanning 13 years and that most of their records have been written as intricate concept pieces in the double album format. Or you could just sneakily slip a copy of Pelagial into their Christmas stocking and let them judge for themselves.
Today The Ocean is pleased to present “Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams” from their forthcoming new studio offering, Pelagial. Possibly their deepest and most profoundly sophisticated work to date, Pelagial is a progressive musical journey written, recorded, mixed and to-be-performed-live as one single 53-minute piece of music. Mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Katatonia, Witchcraft) at Fascination Street Studios in Örebrö, Sweden, Pelagial will be released as a double CD, which includes a vocal and an instrumental version of the album and is scheduled for release on April 26th/29th (Europe) and April 30th (North America/world) through Metal Blade Records.
The Ocean are, in my opinion, one of the best progressive metal bands ever. This said, I was stoked when I recently got the chance to sit down with drummer Luc Hess during the band’s stop in Toronto. We chatted in brief about the band and how things are for them in this part of the world.
Luc Hess has been drumming in The Ocean for a short time now. Recently I got the chance to sit down with him in Toronto and ask about his Meinl Byzance traditional ride cymbal. Luc unfortunately wasn’t able to bring this cymbal overseas, but he did tell us about this wonder baby of his. Read on to find out how Luc is able to use this cymbal to create the sounds heard on The Ocean’s work.
Metal Injection is currently hosting a video for “The Grand Inquisitor II: Roots & Locusts,” from German progressive metal/post hardcore enigmas, The Ocean. The song comes off the band’s ‘Anthropocentric’ full-length, released via Metal Blade last November. ‘Anthropocentric’ is the sequel to ‘Heliocentric’. Together the records serve as a separately-issued double album, a mammoth conceptual effort that took almost two years to complete.
Lineup: Between The Buried And Me, Job For A Cowboy and The Ocean. After doing interviews with all three bands, I got myself positioned behind the soundboard ready to watch this amazing Metal Blade Records Tour lineup. I was excited since this would be the first time seeing one of my favourite progressive metal bands – and they were up first.