On 25th September 2020, The Ocean will release their 8th full-length studio album “Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic,” via Metal Blade Records (CD / digital) and the band’s own Pelagic Records (vinyl). In 2018, The Ocean released “Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic” – the first half of a paleontology concept album.
For a preview of “Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic,” a video for the new single “Oligocene” (filmed by band members Loic Rossetti, David Ahfeldt and Robin Staps, plus edited and animated by Craig Murray) can be viewed below:
The video was shot in the Aragats mountains in Armenia, during the band’s “Siberian Traps” tour in the summer of 2019, which brought them to Russia, Kazachstan, Armenia, Georgia and Japan. “We found this place by accident: the dilapidated ruins of a soviet observatory & research station for cosmic radiation,” comments guitarist and founding member Robin Staps. “The building itself looked like a spaceship that had crash-landed up high in the mountains, but there were lots of interesting structures scattered across the landscape: concrete cubes, underground tunnels, rusted machinery, fallen power poles and watchtowers. It all looked like taken straight out of Andrej Tarkovsky’s ‘Stalker’ movie,” concludes Staps, referring to the ingenious classic that was also the backbone of The Ocean’s 2013 album Pelagial.
The instrumental track was written by drummer Paul Seidel, but recorded with synth player Peter Voigtmann on drums. It serves as a transitional track from the busy and heavy first half of the record (Mesozoic) into the more relaxed, spacious and cold ambient vibes prevailing on the second half of the record (Cenozoic).
The album will be available in a variety of formats;
– deluxe edition CD (tri-fold digipak)
– instrumental CD (remus spine digipak w/ UV gloss)
– box set completion bundle (tri-fold vocal version CD digipak, instrumental version CD digipak, 2 posters, pin, and sticker)
* exclusive bundles with shirts and merch items, plus digital options are also available!
“‘Phanerozoic II’ is more experimental, more eclectic in musical style and direction, and more varied in terms of tempos, beats, guitar work and the use of electronics,” notes Staps. “This was an intentional choice: we wanted Part I to feel rather streamlined and to have a strong cohesion between the individual songs. We wanted to create a certain vibe to linger from the first until the last note throughout the whole record. We kept the weirder, more daring and more progressive material for Part II.”
Track List
1. Triassic
2. Jurassic | Cretaceous
3. Palaeocene
4. Eocene
5. Oligocene
6. Miocene | Pliocene
7. Pleistocene
8. Holocene
The Ocean Tour
w/ pg.lost, Hypno5e, Svalbard
Jan. 7 – Wiesbaden, Germany – Schlachthof
Jan. 8 – Colmar, France – Grillen
Jan. 9 – Paris, France – La Machine
Jan. 10 – Nantes, France – Ferrailleur
Jan. 11 – Toulouse, France – Le Rex
Jan. 12 – Bilbao, Spain – Stage Live
Jan. 13 – Lisbon, Portugal – LAV
Jan. 14 – Madrid, Spain – Caracol
Jan. 15 – Murcia, Spain – Gamma
Jan. 16 – Barcelona, Spain – Boveda
Jan. 17 – Bordeaux, France – Krakatoa
Jan. 18 – Lyon, France – CCO
Jan. 19 – Fribourg, Switzerland – Fri-Son
Jan. 20 – Lucerne, Switzerland – Sedel
Jan. 21 – Vienna, Austria – Viper Room
Jan. 22 – Prague, Czech Republic – Nova Chelmnice
Jan. 23 – Berlin, Germany – Festsaal
Jan. 25 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Pumpehuset
Jan. 26 – Hamburg, Germany – Bahnhof Pauli
Jan. 27 – Leipzig, Germany – Conne Island
Jan. 28 – Munich, Germany – Backstage
Jan. 29 – Essen, Germany – Zeche Carl
Jan. 30 – Osnabruck, Germany – Kleine Freiheit
Jan. 31 – Zwolle, Netherlands – Hedon
Feb. 1 – Cologne, Germany – Volta
Feb. 2 – Brussels, Belgium – Botanique
Feb. 3 – Utrecht, Netherlands – De Helling
Feb. 4 – Bristol, UK – The Fleece
Feb. 5 – Glasgow, UK – Slay
Feb. 6 – Manchester, UK – Club Academy
Feb. 7 – London, UK – 229
Feb. 8 – Brighton, UK – Patterns
