In celebration of its forthcoming release, just three weeks away, Spin Magazine is currently streaming the instrumental version of THE OCEAN‘s Pelagial in its entirety!
Written, recorded, and intended to-be-performed-live as one single 53-minute piece of music, Pelagial is a multifaceted conceptual musical voyage that begins at the surface of the ocean and plunges through all five pelagic depth zones: epipelagic, mesopelagic, bathyalpelagic, abyssopelagic, and hadopelagic. In synch with diminishing light and increasing pressure as one dives or sinks deeper into the ocean, the album begins rather light and progressively gets heavier and slows as the band reaches the unfathomable depths of the hadopelagic zone, characterized by complete darkness and a thousandfold increased pressure as compared to surface level. The tracks, or episodes, are connected by interludes of underwater sounds and samples taken from old submarine movies, which give the album a claustrophobic “Das Boot”-kind of atmosphere. “There are track marks, and there are actual songs built into this larger structure, but the whole album is a journey rather than a number of loose tracks… some riffs appear in the first two minutes of the album and then reappear 30 minutes later,” comments guitarist Robin Staps. It’s an experience that will reward repeated listens.
Delve into the sonic depths of Pelagial, courtesy of Spin Magazine, HERE.
Pelagial was mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Katatonia, Witchcraft) at Fascination Street Studios in Örebrö, Sweden, and firmly stands as THE OCEAN‘s deepest, most challenging entry to their winding catalog of sound exploration. Pelagial will be released as a double CD, which includes both vocal and instrumental versions of the album, on April 26th/29th (Europe) and April 30th (North America/world) through Metal Blade Records. For preorder info, studio footage and more, visit the band’s Official Metal Blade Page.
Additionally, preorders are currently available for the vinyl edition of the album, released through Pelagic Records. The vinyl edition features two separate gatefolds with related artwork (by Seldon Hunt), holding four 10″ vinyl records in different colors! Order yours now at: http//www.pelagic-records.com/vinyl?.
In related news, THE OCEAN will return to North America as part of the 7th annual Summer Slaughter Tour, presented by Indie Merch Store, ESP and Guitar World. Set to run from July 19th through August 24th, the band will appear alongside The Dillinger Escape Plan, Animals As Leaders, Periphery, Norma Jean, Cattle Decapitation, Revocation, Aeon and more. Official tour dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
http://www.theoceancollective.com/pelagial
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http://www.metalblade.com/theocean