Some things about band THE OCEAN that you should know

Last year I first heard this German group. Then their new studio work came out. The Ocean - Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic (2018), for which I wrote a review. I really liked this music, although at first glance it has no style, just as the element has no form.

In general, in this publication I propose to get acquainted with some things about THE OCEAN that you should know.

Initially, having gathered in the early 2000s, the project was called THE OCEAN COLLECTIVE. The driving force, the core, remained the guitarist Robin Staps, and around him, coming and going, many dozens of musicians worked. In 2013, the composition finally stabilized, and the “collective” component was omitted. Nevertheless, many musicians still take part in recording albums: guest vocalists, violinists, pianists, trumpeters, jazz vibraphonists, double bass players, saxophonists, trombonists and so on.

The project is unusually productive: since the debut of 2004, seven full-length works came out, two of whom, "Heliocentric" and "Anthropocentric", in a fit of creative ecstasy, the group issued in 2010. The titles of both releases and songs have a scientific/conceptual implication, affecting either the geological history of the Earth, the theory of the development of the solar system, or the oceanic zones. All this is no coincidence: Robin is a physicist geographer by education.

“I always had a special, intense relationship with the ocean, both positive and negative,” Staps recalled, “first, as a child, I almost drowned. Twice. Secondly, I spent some of the best minutes of my life on the ocean coast. This can be judged by the tattoos that cover my entire arm. In general, this is important for me: the ocean coast is a place where I can relax, escape from everything, running away from everyday life. I also go diving. It is not surprising that the music of the group also reminds me of the ocean: I wanted to create a team in which everything is musically permissible; in the sounds of which I will be able to convey the delightful sunsets in the gentle breeze, and the stormy gusts swarming with sharks, sweeping away and killing all life. ”

Since 2009, band includes the only permanent vocalist Loïc Rossetti. He was chosen from hundreds of candidates; but when Loïc appeared in the studio during the recording of the Heliocentric album and performed the part “Firmament”, he was received without any questions. And the “test” recording of his vocals was included in the final edition of the topic.

“We needed a frontman who would not limit the musical component, allow us to do anything,” says Robin, “scream, a powerful concert performance - yes, past guys coped with it decently. But we also wanted clean vocals. And it’s not that a gay metalcore band, but real, felt singing at the chorus. This is the person we were looking for; his manner, his style, his personality. And, of course, non-standard for metal clean vocals.”

The last laziness of the group’s longplay is called "Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic" - it was released in 2018 and, as you might guess, part two is coming. In 2020.