…And Oceans: Ambivalent Gods
Imagine waiting 18 years to release your next album, only to release another three years on. Some might say you’ve got an itch you can’t scratch, others will think you’ve done them a disservice. But when the albums in question are as masterful as 2020’s Cosmic World Mother and this year’s As In Gardens, So In Tombs, then you can’t fault …AND OCEANS for not taking their time. In fact, with a global pandemic taking their touring plans off the table, new music was their response to the album they didn’t get to play live.
“We didn’t have an actual plan on how to start making this new album, but when we were listening to Cosmic World Mother, maybe it’s too much in your face,” suggests guitarist and founder Timo Kontio. “Maybe we have slowed down a bit with this new album, and maybe we’re having more variation, and that’s something we did intentionally.”
When your comeback album is as applauded by critics and fans alike as Cosmic World Mother was, you’d be forgiven for playing it safe. Yet As In Gardens, So In Tombs twists their symphonic black metal into progressive new territories, letting you get lost in a labyrinth of lyrics. Whilst the album drifts away from its predecessor sonically, lyrically it picks up right where they left off.
“On Cosmic World Mother, I focused on the topic that energy is eternal, it cannot be created out of nothing and it cannot be destroyed, it will only change form,” adds vocalist and lyricist Mathias Lillmåns. “On As In Gardens…, I look at this law of physics through different ways that occur around the world and in the end came to the conclusion that we all search for an explanation of this law, but through different ways of living.”
If you’re looking for answers to the questions Mathias and Timo – joined by bassist Pyry Hanski, drummer Kauko Kuusisalo, guitarist Teemu Saari and keyboardist Antti Simonen – pose, you’ll find nothing but dead ends. As In Gardens, So In Tombs isn’t a hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy, but a catalyst for your own self-discovery. “One’s path to enlightenment might look very different, but the end goal is the same. I’m exploring the notion that those different paths are just other ways to describe the same thing,” states Mathias. “I am just offering possible different perspectives, but if I can even inspire one person to ponder critically what we are fed as absolute truths, then I have made a difference. To actually start educating or telling people that my interpretations are the truth would be kind of pretentious of me and I would not be better than any of the more negative and dangerous paths I talk about.”
Unlike some corners of philosophy that feel lost to endless thoughts, As In Gardens, So In Tombs speaks from their own experiences of walking less desirable paths. Releasing an album, and writing another, during a global pandemic will damage the soul, as Mathias confesses. “It’s an album born out of frustration of not being able to tour the last one. When the virus hit the world I fell into some kind of state of despair, everything I ever knew was taken away from me and this album helped me out of that dark pit.”
Inspired as much by the duality of nature as it was “hours of diving into literature on different religions, world views, and customs,” writing As In Gardens, So In Tombs led Mathias to develop new perspectives as he carved a path out of his pit of despair. Ultimately, it informed the album and how he hopes others consume it. “I’d say it’s never dangerous to open up your mind to new things, how you interpret that information is the real hazard here, not looking critically on things you are being fed every day can be dangerous.”
…AND OCEANS aren’t looking for passive listeners – As In Gardens, So In Tombs is an open invitation to active participants to exit society’s echo chambers and challenge their own identities. “I am not here to educate or force my views on anyone, but to challenge the listeners to go and investigate their own beliefs and customs, and to learn something new in the process that will open up their minds and change any benevolent view.”
As a concept album, from the opening title track to the towering, seven minute finale Ambivalent God, these existential and philosophical questions come thick and fast. Take the latter for example, where some studies suggest that ambivalence defines gods, because ambivalent gods are needed for us to follow our own rituals. Is that the line Mathias treads, the question he wants us to ask?
“It’s not about a God in any kind of holy scripture, it’s a metaphor for a higher power, non-sense law, or restriction that is only there for the benefit of others. I’m just pointing out the ambivalence in these parts of our lives that some of us just accept and swallow without any questioning whatsoever.”
As well as asking you to challenge your own beliefs, …AND OCEANS task you with running down rabbit holes, choosing your own interpretation. On The Earth Canvas, they ponder “what’s seen in the blue and green, can also be found in the red” – it could mean anything to anyone, but what’s Mathias’ take on it?
“This is actually a comment on the ancient astronaut theory, where the blue and green stands for the Earth and the red for Mars, and the planets similarities and structures and petroglyphs to please the gods,” enthuses Mathias, who has hoped this lyric would get attention. “It could of course also stand as a metaphor for Earth and the red for a fiery judgement in the afterlife if you break too many of the rules set up for us to follow.”
Just as …AND OCEANS have used their comeback from hiatus wilderness as a tool for self-enlightenment, Cosmic World Mother and As In Gardens, So In Tombs is yours to challenge yourself, no matter what path you tread.
As In Gardens, So In Tombs is out now via Season Of Mist.
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