NO)))ISECAST #46 - Robin Staps from The Ocean & Pelagic Records
20.05.2023 Sebastian
Zusammenfassung & Show Notes
ABOUT THE OCEAN
Right off the back of a 6 months world tour, the Berlin-based atmospheric post metal juggernaut The Ocean (Collective) returns with the follow-up to their critically acclaimed Phanerozoic double album. Holocene sees The Ocean add a closing chapter to their palaeontology-inspired album series, presenting a gear shift towards the electronic world while redefining heaviness at the same time.
Right off the back of a 6 months world tour, the Berlin-based atmospheric post metal juggernaut The Ocean (Collective) returns with the follow-up to their critically acclaimed Phanerozoic double album. Holocene sees The Ocean add a closing chapter to their palaeontology-inspired album series, presenting a gear shift towards the electronic world while redefining heaviness at the same time.
Founded at the dawn of the millennium, the group of musicians helmed by guitarist Robin Staps shows no sign of slowing down even with over 20 years under their belt. Coming together around a shared vision of limitless sonic exploration and unrelenting heaviness, they gained a formidable reputation within the post rock, post-metal, progressive metal & hardcore scenes.Being revered as one of the most devastating live bands in contemporary heavy music, The Ocean became a regular fixture on the European festival circuit appearing on metal festivals like Hellfest, Wacken and Resurrection as well as main-stream rock open airs like Roskilde, Dour, Pukkelpop or Oya and tastemakers' indoor boutique festivals like Roadburn and Dunk!. Over the course of their storied career, the band have toured Europe and North America with artists such as Opeth, Mastodon, Mono, Cult of Luna, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Katatonia, Anathema, Between The Buried And Me and Devin Townsend. The band's own Pelagic Records has become one of the world's leading labels for post-rock and post-metal, with a catalogue of over 230 physical releases since 2009
ABOUT HOLOCENE
Phanerozoic II ended with a track titled “Holocene”, and now it's clear that this track was pointing in the direction of things to come, both conceptually and musically. The dark, synth-driven track Holocene ends abruptly and yet connects seamlessly with the beginning of the new album: the haunting synth sounds of opener “Preboreal”. Enter the Holocene - the latest and thus-far shortest epoch on the geological time scale in which humanity appeared on the planet. Through rapid proliferation and technological progress, our species has shaped and changed our planet in ways unprecedented in history. Moving into the human age, The Ocean have become more intimate and captivating musically, while creeping deeper into their own DNA with numerous references to their earlier discography which older fans will cherish. Listening to the album Holocene brings back familiar feelings: that wide open spaciousness found on the 2nd half of Pelagial, those dark subdued delay-soaked melodies lingering underneath the aquatic surface all unmistakably carry the trademark of Staps' ingenious writing – but there is also anew emphasis here: the distortion on the guitars is dialed back in favor of radiant synths and horns in every song, and Rossetti's charismatic vocals remain mostly clean.
Phanerozoic II ended with a track titled “Holocene”, and now it's clear that this track was pointing in the direction of things to come, both conceptually and musically. The dark, synth-driven track Holocene ends abruptly and yet connects seamlessly with the beginning of the new album: the haunting synth sounds of opener “Preboreal”. Enter the Holocene - the latest and thus-far shortest epoch on the geological time scale in which humanity appeared on the planet. Through rapid proliferation and technological progress, our species has shaped and changed our planet in ways unprecedented in history. Moving into the human age, The Ocean have become more intimate and captivating musically, while creeping deeper into their own DNA with numerous references to their earlier discography which older fans will cherish. Listening to the album Holocene brings back familiar feelings: that wide open spaciousness found on the 2nd half of Pelagial, those dark subdued delay-soaked melodies lingering underneath the aquatic surface all unmistakably carry the trademark of Staps' ingenious writing – but there is also anew emphasis here: the distortion on the guitars is dialed back in favor of radiant synths and horns in every song, and Rossetti's charismatic vocals remain mostly clean.
With Holocene The Ocean draw us into their momentum of truly forward-thinking music and relentless live performances. More than 20 years into their career, this Berlin-based collective still shakes us to the core, inviting us to reconsider our lives from different angles.Dwelling in the depths of our inner contemplations, while looking up, we can see the light at the surface. A light we might have taken for granted for so long, but of which The Ocean show us a rare glimpse of perspective. Holocene unites the might of this massive act’s past and present, while creating a deeper understanding of their world as well as ours in the process.
THE OCEAN is:
Loïc Rossetti - Vocals
Paul Seidel - Drums
Mattias Hägerstrand – Bass
Robin Staps – Guitars
David Ahfeldt – Guitars
Peter Voigtmann - Keys
Loïc Rossetti - Vocals
Paul Seidel - Drums
Mattias Hägerstrand – Bass
Robin Staps – Guitars
David Ahfeldt – Guitars
Peter Voigtmann - Keys
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