THE OCEAN: Phanerozoic I : Palaeozoic (POST METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

In a career spanning almost 20 years, the Germans of The Ocean have grown continuously. After having released 7 studio albums and having toured with the greatest (Anathema, Mastodon, Devin Townsend...) in the biggest festivals, the band from Berlin releases this autumn its eighth album, five years after "Pelagial". The new opus "Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic" is as usual in the ideological lineage of the previous albums and deals with biological and animal life, global warming and the mass extinction of many animal species that lived 250 million years earlier. Technically, the concept is accomplished and declined throughout the record, even in the titles with a very complex appearance.

From the introduction entitled 'The Cambrian Explosion', the listener is immersed in a heavy atmosphere that heralds a devastating explosion that will begin on the second track, 'Cambrian II'. It is then that one finds oneself caught in a progressive post-metal typhoon dear to The Ocean. The atmosphere and the riffs are heavy, the production signed Jens Bogren (Opeth, Katatonia) powerful and compact and the screams are intense. However, one never sinks in a purely death atmosphere, since the dark side of the compositions is often compensated and attenuated by more luminous parts.

Throughout the album, some very opposite titles will thus cohabit. If 'Ordovicium' is heavy, slow, powerful like the screams that compose it, the beginning of the next track, 'Silurian', is rather in a grunge lineage reminiscent of Alice In Chains. The tracks being long, the opportunity is given to them to evolve and go through different phases. There is a dark and bewitching oriental cello section in the middle of the title, before giving birth to a melancholic ballad-like passage magnified by a soothing clear vocals.

Among the highlights is also the presence of the very good 'Devonian: Nascent'. The first part is a blatant nod to Katatonia and could very well feature in one of the Swedish albums. And that's quite logical, because Jonas Renkse, the band's singer himself, brilliantly provides the lead vocals on the first half of the track, with his unique vocal timbre.

"Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic" is a solid, remarkably balanced record, where the sometimes destructive and sometimes soothing moods are mixed. First good news, if you don't like screaming vocals, a second record is available with the same tracks in an all instrumental format. Second Good news, a second part is planned for 2021, and all we can hope is that it will be as conclusive as the first one! - Official website

THE OCEAN

PHANEROZOIC I : PALAEOZOIC

METAL BLADE RECORDS

POST METAL