THE OCEAN
The Ocean ponder humanity’s role in our planet’s decline
Holocene
PELAGIC
Berlin’s progressive metallers pose a question for the ages
FOR A BAND who have documented the last 4.5 billion years of this planet’s existence, covering the comparatively succinct Holocene era (11,700 years, if you’re counting) should be a doddle. To their credit, The Ocean make it sound easy, but, as ever, it’s best to brace for an immersive deep dive before taking the plunge.
Guitarist/mastermind Robin Staps suggests Holocene serves as an appendix of sorts to the band’s previous trilogy, and there are definite thematic links to 2020’s Phanerozoic II, from the Tool-ish slinkiness of the guitars and Loïc Rossetti’s slightly robotic clean vocals through to the brass sections, which, here, have been more fully and marvellously integrated. Most notably, though, the electronic elements that have threaded their way through previous endeavours take a more central role, lending proceedings a sense of the kosmische. This makes for a more meditative, less aggressive experience than its immediate predecessor, and those looking for pure crush may be alarmed at how long they’re teased before a walloping great gut-punch riff enters the fray.