The Ocean announce new album ‘Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic’

July 1, 2020 James Weaver

THE OCEAN have announced a new album!

Titled Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic, the upcoming album from the German progressive metal band is the second half to the band’s dual concept album, starting with 2018’s Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic, and is scheduled to be released in September, via Metal Blade Records/Pelagic Records.

In contrast with the compositional directness of Phanerozoic I, the new album is a vastly more progressive and perverse piece of work. “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 guitarist Robin 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.”

Tracked in Iceland, Spain and Germany and produced by esteemed studio guru Jens Bogren, Phanerozoic II is underpinned by some of the most imaginative and challenging music that THE OCEAN have made yet. Divided into two sections – Mesozoic and Cenozoic – the album once again showcases the detail and depth that have become two of the band’s most enduring trademarks. While ostensibly delving into the extraordinary realities of the Earth’s shifting temporal tides, Staps and his comrades have long drawn hazy parallels between their chosen subjects and the emotional experiences that their music strives to convey. Phanerozoic II is essentially an album about time, with some very poignant and pointed allusions to the modern world woven into the new music’s spiritual fabric.

As, Staps explains, “the outcome is a record that is a real journey. It starts in one place, and concludes in a totally different place. In a way, it relates to 2013’s Pelagial, which was similar in that it was also a journey: but a more guided, focused and predictable one. Phanerozoic II on the other hand is closer to the experience of free fall.”

Alongside the announcement of the new album, the band have released the first song from the upcoming album; titled Jurassic | Cretaceous. The new song features a guest appearance from KATATONIA‘s Jonas Renkse.

Listen to Jurassic | Cretaceous here: