The Ocean Collective – Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic / Cenozoic
September 25th, 2020
Progressive / Sludge Metal
Metal Blade Records
Berlin, Germany
When I was a teenager I had a huge phase of getting into sludge metal bands, especially the progressive flavour which featured such bands as Mastodon and Baroness and other such bands that melded the ferocity of sludge with the atmosphere and grandiosity of prog. One such band that I got into around that time was The Ocean, or The Ocean Collective as they are sometimes known. I still have fond memories of their early records like Fogdiver and Aeolian, though I really fell in love with their later works Heliocentric and Anthropocentric. However, as the years dragged on I kind of stopped following The Ocean’s work. As such I have missed the last two or three records the group has done. But when I saw that they dropped a new record in 2020 I decided to dive in a see what it was all about, and I have to say that I’m glad I revisited this band’s work, because this record slaps.
This album is awash in catchy hooks draped in a soothing and grandiose atmosphere that makes the listener feel like they’re on a journey through the early carbon-swathed days of life on planet Earth. Of course this makes sense given the fact that the titles of the songs on here follow different time periods throughout Earth’s history, beginning with “Triassic”, the first period of time when early dinosaurs began to roam the planet, and ending with “Holocene”, the period of time that pre-dates the proposed Anthropocene era which we are currently living in. As such the entire record feels like a swampy and sludgy trudge through the haze of Earth’s geographical evolution, and I feel like the prog-heavy approach of the songs on here really helps solidify that theme.
The songs on this album is full of hook after hook, which is really impressive for a band of this nature. I feel The Ocean are a prog band who could easily fall into the trap of pretense, especially given their very heady, science-based and at times philosophical lyrical themes. However, that being said, this album actually has a ton of really memorable instrumental passages and vocal melodies that get stuck in my head. I would actually go so far as to say that every song on this record is a certified banger.
While the band night not lean as much into the sludgey elements of their earlier material, the roots of that aspect of their sound are still holding on, and as a result, we also get a lot of really heavy guitar work going on. The chugs on this thing, especially on tracks like “Jurassic / Cretaceous”, are just absolutely monolithic in stature, and they slam into your ears with the force of a concrete slab colliding with pavement after being knocked down by a wrecking ball. But those heavier moments are juxtaposed with quieter moments where synthesizers provide the background rhythm and the rhythm section goes absolutely haywire in noodly but still firmly planted passages. It’s nice to see the bass get to stand out so much on this record.
Production wise this album does fall into some of the same tropes as a lot of modern metal in that every feels very clean and touched up to perfection. However I think that this approach to production works really well for an album of this nature. The instruments feel very full and thick in comparison to the more heavily compressed works of other bands in the prog metal world like Fallujah or The Faceless, for example. There’s a lot more of an organic feeling to this album than one would typically expect, especially in a space where the sonic landscape of albums is very computer-heavy. That’s not to say that this album doesn’t have a lot of post-production tinkering going on. I’m just saying that it doesn’t feel as overdone as a lot of other records in the prog metal space.
There are a few highlights on this record I want to point out specifically. I love the vocal hook during the chorus on “Jurassic / Cretaceous” when vocalist Loic Rossetti sings We are just like reptiles, giant rulers of the world, within the blink of an eye, wiped off the face of the earth” but then when it comes back again the second time it’s sung on the offbeat. It’s such a nice little touch and I can’t help but love it. I really like mid-section of the song “Palaeocene” where the whole thing turns into a black metal song with a punk drum beat just for a brief moment. It’s great. Love it.
It’s a shame I didn’t get around to listening to this record in 2020 and only started getting into it around the middle of 2021, because honestly had I listened to it when it came out it might have made my best of list for that year. Unfortunately that wasn’t meant to be, but I’m sure glad I decided to listen to it because I absolutely love every track on this album. There isn’t a single moment on this record that I can really point to as being something that detracts from the overall package. It’s just really, really well written and put together. Do yourself a favour and listen to this thing. It’s one of the best records of the decade so far.
Final Verdict: 10/10
Flawless
Favourite Tracks:
“Triassic”
“Jurassic / Cretaceous”
“Palaeocene”
“Eocene”
“Miocene / Pliocene”
“Pleistocene”
“Holocene”
~ Akhenaten
Where Strides The Behemoth? 