The Ocean Unveil Phanerozoic I at London’s The Dome

Date: November 2, 2018

Where: The Dome (Tufnell Park), London

German progressive metal outfit The Ocean are finally back with a new album after five years. The band hasn’t been slacking, though. After Pelagial came out they toured non-stop, so there simply wasn’t time to make a new record. But the last two years have been very productive for them. The result is the new album Phanerozoic, which will be released in two parts. The first part, titled Palaeozoic, came out on November 2, and the band is presenting it on a November tour, which they’re doing together with Rosetta and Arabrot. On the day The Ocean’s new album dropped, they played London’s The Dome. It’s a smaller hall, but it still holds over a thousand people. Attendance was solid, but it wasn’t packed.

First on stage were Norway’s Arabrot, who served up a rather unusual mix of genres. The band says they play noise rock and post-punk. The whole thing definitely came across as quirky, but somehow it didn’t win over enough of the crowd. Only a handful of people were interested in the front rows. Arabrot are certainly not a band swimming in commercial waters. Their style also didn’t fit best alongside the other bands on the tour. Still, Arabrot added some variety to the night.

With America’s post-metal band Rosetta, though, you could warm up nicely. The band served up raw post-metal, which means the more modern sludge metal came to the fore. But so it wouldn’t be all just noise, they showed a gentle side as a counterweight. There were melodic vocals from the guitarist, the rhythm section stopped hammering, and the guitars were calmed down in a post-rock style. Rosetta definitely presented their music more than well, and compared to other post-rock acts it was anything but predictable. Since screaming vocals and heavy distortion were up front for more of the set, it’s clear Rosetta are aiming at a more metal crowd, one that’s into Neurosis, Isis, Pelican and so on. With good sound and stage lights, Rosetta’s show was all the more convincing. In short, a band you’d expect to be much better known.

Within half an hour everything was ready for The Ocean, who started playing as a sextet on this tour. The band has taken on Peter Voigtmann, who started handling keyboards, as a permanent member. Voigtmann has been working with the band for a while now, having previously taken care of the stage lights. The band opened its set with the new track Cambrian II: Eternal Recurrence. Right away The Ocean showed that their sound has gotten even fuller since they became a sextet, and as the set went on they proved they’re still as uncompromising as ever. The years don’t show on this band. The mileage is undeniably visible, and so is the tightness that goes with it. Expecting the band to play the whole new album, they quickly reached back into an older record too. After the new Ordovicium, The Ocean stayed progressive with Hadopelagic II from the album Pelagial. Even though the previous album has been played to death live, the songs still feel interesting enough to make the show that much better.

The Ocean calmed down a bit with Firmanent from the album Heliocentric. A mellow song that, as The Ocean do best, builds into something heavier. But what thrilled the crowd most was, for many, a return to the album Precambrian. The song Orosorian is already crushing by nature, and the vocals got an extra boost from Rosetta singer Michael Armine. The double vocal assault beefed up an already powerful whole, the chaos on stage was indescribable, and the crowd welcomed it with a roar. Before the break, The Ocean closed the set with the more melancholic Permian: The Great Dying, which also closes the current album.

What The Ocean might pull out for the encore is anyone’s guess. The band has quite a few albums behind them, and each has a potential song for the setlist. They went with The Great Observer, a track recorded between the current and the previous album. Another progressive song full of twists, and a surprise for the encore. The circle was closed with Benthic: The Origin of Our Wishes, the closing track of the album Pelagial. It’s a slow, morbid song where the sludge metal element stands out. The guitars hit so low that you feel like you’re under the pressure at the bottom of the ocean. Singer Loic Rosetti once again took the chance to throw himself into the crowd.

The Ocean prove they’re in top form again in 2018, and the innovative new album shows it too. Without a doubt one of the best live bands on the scene right now.