The Ocean has released a new single called “Jurassic | Cretaceous” from their upcoming album Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic. The track features guests vocals from Katatonia vocalist Jonas Renkse. The aforementioned album was produced by Jens Bogren (Amon Amarth, Opeth) and will see its release on September 25th through Metal Blade Records.
The album is the second half of the ban’ds 2018 album Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic. It’s described as a more progressive and experimental than the previous part. The band’s vocalist/guitarist Robin Staps offered the following:
“‘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. 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.
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.”
Speaking on the lyrical content, he offered:
“Though humanity is only a very recent phenomenon in the 541 million years history of the Phanerozoic eon, the lyrics are obviously written from a human perspective. They are following Nietzsche‘s philosophical idea of amor fati in the light of the larger themes of Eternal Recurrence, and the inevitability of an imaginary impending collision on a planetary scale, which are the two red threads that go through Phanerozoic I and II.”
There is also an unspecified track featuring Breach‘s Tomas Liljedahl on the album as well.
Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic track listing:
01 – “Triassic”
02 – “Jurassic | Cretaceous” (feat. Jonas Renkse)
03 – “Palaeocene”
04 – “Eocene”
05 – “Oligocene”
06 – “Miocene | Pliocene”
07 – “Pleistocene”
08 – “Holocene”
You can find pre-orders for the album here.
