Pelagial, the long-awaited new maritime-themed studio endeavor from sound revolutionists THE OCEAN, is set to drop in North America tomorrow! Their deepest and most profound composition to date, Pelagial is a progressive musical journey written, recorded, mixed and to-be-performed-live as one single 53-minute piece of music. Immeasurably heavy both sonically and thematically, Pelagial submerges listeners, quite literally, through all five pelagic depth zones: epipelagic, mesopelagic, bathyalpelagic, abyssopelagic, and hadopelagic. Said Decibel Magazine in a recent review of the offering: “Where the band was once steeped in sludgy noise/metalcore with orchestral interludes, they’ve become more luxurious, experimental and textural. Pelagial…further continues that shift, working on multi-tiered levels and drawing from DEP-inspired chaos, Opeth-like moods and Between The Buried And Me genre fiddling. It’s an album that strives to be all things at once without crossing into a ‘look-at-me’ mess.”
The aquatic audio adventure begins at the surface of the ocean and plunges in synch with diminishing light and increasing pressure as one dives or sinks deeper into the ocean. Pelagial 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.
Mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Katatonia, Witchcraft) at Fascination Street Studios in Örebrö, Sweden, Pelagial will be released as a double CD, which includes a vocal and an instrumental version of the album and will make its way to North American shores tomorrow, April 30th, through Metal Blade Records.
Check out the special clip video of the record currently posted at Invisible Oranges at THIS LOCATION as well as a full stream of the instrumental version, courtesy of Spin Magazine, HERE. Order your copy of Pelagial at: http://www.theoceancollective.com/pelagial.
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.
“The sixth album from German post-metal doombringers THE OCEAN is huge… In the course of the record, tender piano interludes get stomped on by Mastodon-shaped footprints, lush strings work next to bulldozing double-kick work, and, at the end, the submarine crashes at Melvins tempos.” – Spin
“Pelagial is brilliantly written, expertly executed and filled with the kind of songwriting most bands can only dream of.” – Craveonline
“Pelagial resonates so deeply because its sonic continuity is matched with shifting, unified composition. The album viscerally depicts the spectrum of submersion while highlighting the musicians’ versatility and cohesion. The band has never written more intriguing music, and THE OCEAN COLLECTIVE has never been a more apt name.” – MetalSucks
“…a journey within itself…” – Metal Insider
“Pelagial is quite possibly THE OCEAN’s most ambitious record to date – not only conceptually, but musically as well… THE OCEAN have been on the cutting edge of progressive songwriting since their inception, but Pelagial may be the record that finally puts them ahead of their peers.” – Heavy Blog Is Heavy
“Beyond impressive. It’s godly almost; perfectionism to the point that every minute flaw forces you to question whether it’s you or the album that’s to blame. It’s an album with a layered depth rarely found in modern music that never demands your exploration of those depths in order to appreciate the music.” – Axis of Metal
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