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giovedì 30 marzo THE OCEAN COLLECTIVE The Ocean Collective’s oftentimes deeply convoluted compositions sweep across dismal landscapes shaped by faceless modern archi- tecture and symbols of power looming large on all horizons, tearing up the asphalt of our cities’ streets with berserk drum-attacks, at times pausing for a minatorial instant, granting the battered listener a short moment to breathe in the foul odor of panic, before winding up again, with deafening noise and sparks flying all across the stage, into the black city night’s skies... Rich with dire lust for life and oozing with complaisant brutality, they come across as epic and sinfonical, yet hardly long-winded. Slow, calm and doomy passages with classical instruments and clear references to soundtrack music culminate in guitar-dominated outbursts of orchestral noise and modern, technical metal/hardcore. THE OCEAN esteem the following artists as particularly important influences and thus try even more assiduously to dissociate from them: Neurosis, David Lynch, The Refused, King Crimson, Lautreamont, Chopin, Portishead, Botch, Tarkowskij, Godspeed YouBlack Emperor!, Rimbaud, Breach, Godflesh, Dali, the Melvins and other surrealists... 2000-2002 In early 2000, guitarist / songwriter Robin Staps moved to Berlin to look for like-minded people who would share his vision of a larger collective of musicians playing together to create a carefully composed sound that was to be orchestral and heavy at the same time. The first bandmembers were found by advertisements in local music magazines, plus the usual word of mouth-propaganda, and some first demos were recorded with guitars, bass and drum-machines. By
the end of 2001 the band moved into the basement catacombs of an old aluminum
factory which quit business after World War II. After two months of work,
the band had established itself at what was going to be called OCEANLAND,
a fairly big underground complex of various rehearsal-, studio- and even
bedrooms. All OCEAN-records to date have been recorded and produced here. In
the following months, THE OCEAN COLLECTIVE rehearsed
intensely to work on their live-program. The sequencer was included as
an integral part into the live-performance, controlling not only the samples,
but also guitar-effects and amp channelswitching, plus, later on, a MIDI-triggered
light-show. Kornmann used the virtually unlimited space at OCEANLAND
to further expand his percussion-arsenal with self-built frame-drums. In July 2002 THE OCEAN COLLECTIVE played their first show ever in front of 200 people at the famous EIMER location in Berlin-Mitte, supported by cello-, flute- and trombone-players. 2003 In 2003, THE OCEAN played more than 30 shows (including radio appearances) in Germany and Benelux. The cinematic, conceptual live-show was continuously improved and reamed with new components: at a gig with ISIS in Munich, a video-performance was part of the show for the first time. Next to the MIDI-triggered light-show, flashing in time to the beat of the music, fixed interludes and samples between the songs ensure the continuousity of the imaginary movie that THE OCEAN conjure on stage. The absence of announcements between songs creates a mystic distance between the band and the listener, making it easy for him to get lost in the dismal oceanic spheres. The Lynch-esque play with darkness only adds to that: oftentimes the faces of the musicians diappear in the diffuse blue-green twilight on stage. 2004 In
August 2004, the first half of that recording session was released under
the title “Fluxion” through MAKE MY DAY Records(Germany)
and the Spanish label Throne Records (abroad). Once again, the German
press got more than excited: METAL HAMMER and LEGACY
call “Fluxion” “a simply great record”, EMP MAGAZINE
says “Fluxion” is “the true soundtrack to the year 2004”,
and OX calls THE OCEAN “the self-contained german
answer to NEUROSIS and ISIS”. 2005 November
2005 will see the release of “Aeolian” -
the heavier twin of the 2004 release "Fluxion". While "Fluxion"
mixed the orchestral and atmospheric side of its predecessor "Fogdiver"
with harsh vocals and complex metal passages, "Aeolian" develops
all Despite its heaviness, "Aeolian" is more accessible than the previous album, which might be due to the fact that the unavoidable monotony of “hard” vocals has been broken up by using a number of different voices. There are 6 singers on the album altogether, covering the entire spectrum of aggressive vocals. Guest vocalists include Tomas Hallbom of BREACH, Nate Newton of CONVERGE / OLD MAN GLOOM and former COALESCE frontman Sean Ingram. Tomas Hallbom, who guests on 5 tracks, also appeared on stage with the band at selected shows last April, during which a few BREACH songs were covered. BREACH is one of THE OCEAN's most important influences. Sean Ingram recorded the entire track "Queen Of The Food-Chain". Sean himself had the following to say about his participation: "if my rough takes at home are any indication, this will be my favourite guest appearance yet". The
album's elaborate design is the brainchild of Norwegian artist Martin
Kvamme, who is best known for his work on Mike Patton's
various projects (Fantomas, Tomahawk, Patton / Kaada). The 16-page booklet
will be printed on different types of paper: the exterior depicts pictures
of clouds, which will be printed on a heavy, mat paperboard. The lyrics
in the interior will be printed on very thin paper, in the style of old
Gutenberg bibles. The CD comes in a white slipcase with golden, embossed
drawings by Kvamme. discography: line-up:
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