THE OCEAN — Heliocentric (review)

THE OCEAN — Heliocentric album cover Album · 2010 · Atmospheric Sludge Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Pelata
For over half a decade now, Germany’s The Ocean has been churching out some of the most forward thinking, textured, aurally massive sounds in metal. Following the path of the truly progressive, each of The Ocean‘s successive releases finds the band adding more layers, more tangible space and more shifting dynamics. Having had nearly 40 different band members come in and out of the band (which was originally called The Ocean Collective) may have something to do with that. These members help founding guitarist/songwriter Robin Staps’ musical vision take ever-shifting shapes.

Heliocentric, the follow up to 2007′s Precambrian, finds the band with a new vocalist, Loic Rossetti, and a fresh dose of inspiration adding large doses of melody (including very well sung, yes, SUNG, vocals). The songs find themselves somewhere between the crushing weight of Neurosis and the atmospheric strains of Ulver. The band shifts from rich death growls over two-ton guitars to piano & strings with clean, capable singing. Regardless of the dynamic, the mood throughout the album is one of serious thought, intense conviction and passionate belief. The album is actually the first half of a 2-album concept which takes a philosophical position in critiquing Christianity, tracing it from its origins as a movement 2 millennia ago to more current schools of thought along the lines of Darwin and Dawkins. It’s not a hateful, “let’s bash all the stupid Christians” free-for-all… it’s a much more subdued, honest critique which, honestly, is quite refreshing. Songs like “The Origin Of The Species” (one of the albums longer, more prog-like cuts), “Metaphysics Of The Hangman”, “Ptolemy Was Wrong” (with it’s Wagner-esque brooding heaviness of mood) and “Swallowed By The Earth” showcase the band’s undeniable strength, musical dexterity and ability to create massive tonal waves that will wash over the listener.

Fans of any of the band’s previous efforts, the aforementioned Ulver & Neurosis, as well as Isis, mid-era The Gathering, even Opeth will find something of great value here, methinks.
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