CD review THE OCEAN ‘Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic’

The collective is back. Nearly two years after ‘Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic’ entered the German album charts, The Ocean return with their eighth album.

‘Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic’ features eight songs, being the announced second part of the conceptual approach the band started in 2018. Both records are supposed to close the gap between ‘Precambrian’ and ‘Heliocentric/Anthropocentric‘, addressing evolution, diversification and mass extinction in the shift from Paleozoic to Phanerozoic. It’s not an easy topic fans get served and in a way it fits the time of a pandemic we are living in right now. With music that mirrors the thematic approach, the new record isn’t only lyrically sophisticated, it’s musically challenging too.

Robin Staps founded The Ocean in the beginning of the new century, found musical partners in crime, all starting an impressive journey into Post-Metal that gets with the new album a next leg.

‘Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic’ is the anticipated next album fans could expect. Although being a slightly more experimental and also having some electronic elements embedded, like in ‘Triassic’, it’s still 100% The Ocean you get offered by this longplayer. What’s really interesting in a way is, that it’s possible to create an own musical identity with a very dynamic line-up that found a bit more stability since a few years. Being on a similar musical mission allows the associates to create a trademark sound that’s build on the basement of Post-Metal with details being the excitement-adding extra.

The Ocean’s new longplayer is an album that doesn’t reveal it’s dark beauty right away. Songs like the 13 minutes epos ‘Jurassic | Cretaceous’ need time to unfold all the details, including the jazzy brass parts that are weaved into this heavy pounding track. Part II of this release series is in general more complex and twisted than the first episode, a conscious maxim from Staps.

Considering though all the layers, from fragile to fierce outburst, there is never a moment when you as a listener get lost in endless musical nerdism. Staps and bandmates manage to create an emotional connection as well as they embed melodies that shows the way forward after turbulent passages challenged the listener.

‘Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic’ triggers various emotions throughout, from despair to melancholy and sometimes even a glimpse of hope, depending on where you are in the tracklist. Equipped with a massive sound, with no less than Jens Bogren at the helm, The Ocean launch another milestone in Post Metal, a longplayer that lifts the bar for next releases.