Release date: 5/19/2023
Origin: Berlin, Germany
Personnel: Loic Rosetti-vox, Robin Staps-guitar, David Ramis Ahfeldt-guitar, Mattias Hagerstrond-bass, Paul Seidel-drums
The Ocean (or The Ocean Collective, if you like) is one of the better art projects going today. They have crafted such an interesting library of albums that the band can really go in any direction they wish at this point. And, yet, they still retain the ultimate sound that makes The Ocean, well, The Ocean. Most of that is probably due to the influence of main dude Robin Staps’ direction. This latest album kind of pushes the boundary of what a metal band is capable of. It is more than anything a keyboard/electronic driven album with metal flourishes. It is very quiet, introspective and atmospheric. But, damn, I dare you not to get pulled into its grasp. Just a perfect piece of forward thinking metal.
5 flip flops out of 5
The list so far:
4. The Ocean-Holocene
5. Hinayana-Shatter and Fall
6. In Flames-Foregone
7. Soen-Memorial
8. Panopticon-The Rime of Memory
9. Mutoid Man-Mutants
10. Enslaved-Heimdal
11. Thron-Dust
12. Harboured-Harboured
13. Herod-Iconoclast
14. Insomnium-Anno 1696
15. Spirit Adrift-Ghost of the Gallows
16. Church of Misery-Born Under a Mad Sign
17. Primordial-How It Ends
18. Imperium Dekadenz-Into Sorrow Evermore
19. Royal Thunder-Rebuilding the Mountain
20. Katatonia-Sky Void of Stars
DISPATCHES FROM THE VOID 