One of my favorite bands from the last ten years is Germany's The Ocean (Collective). All the band's records are fantastic, and with the addition of singer Loic Rossettiand the release of
their 2010 albums Heliocentric and Anthropocentric they became something even better. Now in April (geez, really? Again with the April? I will be freakin' broke in April with all the records being released that month!) The Ocean, AKA The Ocean Collective will release Epipelagic. Here's what the group's website had to say about the upcoming record, tell me this isn't amazing:
pe·la·gi·al [puh-ley-jee-uh l] – 1. Of, relating to, or living in open oceans or seas rather than waters adjacent to land or inland waters; such as, pelagic birds. 2. Living or growing at or near the surface of the ocean, far from land, as certain organisms. 3. Of or pertaining to the sea; marine
After 2 years of relentless touring in North America, Europe, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and Australia, The Ocean have resurfaced with what could be their deepest and most trailblazing piece of work to date, Pelagial: a progressive musical journey, written, recorded, mixed and to-be-performed-live as one single 53-minutes piece of music. Mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Katatonia, Witchcraft) at Fascination Street Studios in Örebrö, Sweden, Pelagial is set to be released on April 26th / 29th (Europe) and April 30th (North America / world) through Metal Blade Records.
The concept of the album is made evident in its title, Pelagial. Listeners will be further submersed as they journey with the band, beginning at the surface of the ocean and plunging through all five pelagic depth zones: epipelagic, mesopelagic, bathyalpelagic, abyssopelagic, and hadopelagic. In synch with diminishing light and increasing pressure as one dives or sinks deeper into the ocean, the album begins rather light and progressively gets heavier and slows as the band reaches the unfathomable depths of the hadopelagic zone, characterized by complete darkness and a thousandfold increased pressure as compared to surface level. What is remarkable about Pelagial is that this is not some detached conceptual idea; this can actually be heard and felt while listening to the album.
What has me perhaps even more excited about the band's new record is the idea that I might get a chance to see them again on tour. In 2011 while they were touring I was able to catch them at Pomona, CA's The Glass House. They were every bit amazing as I thought they'd be. I did a write up on the that show
here. The only draw back to that particular show was that of the four bands that played, The Ocean came all the way from Germany just to open the night with a criminally short set (not their fault). Hopefully this time they'll play a lot longer, as they have so much wonderful material to cover.
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