THE OCEAN have released the third video from their upcoming live album Phanerozoic Live (November 26th). The live album is a showcase of two live events performed by THE OCEAN – Live In Bremen (Part I) and Live At Roadburn Redux (Part II), and will be released by Metal Blade Records digitally worldwide. Fans eager for physical copies can pre-order the album in various formats at Pelagic Records.

Watch “Eocene” Now:

Phanerozoic Live Track Listing
Phanerozoic Part I – Live in Bremen:
01. The Cambrian Explosion
02. Cambrian II
03. Ordovicium
04. Silurian
05. Devonian
06. The Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse
07. Permian

Phanerozoic Part II – Live At Roadburn Redux:
01. Triassic
02. Jurassic | Cretaceous
03. Palaeocene
04. Eocene
05. Oligocene
06. Miocene | Pliocene
07. Pleistocene
08. Holocene

The band recently release a pair of live clips, “Jurassic / Cretaceous” (Live at Roadburn) and “Devonian” (Live in Bremen), as featured on the album as the first taste from Phanerozoic Live.

In early 2021 with no end of lockdowns in sight, THE OCEAN decided to thank their fans for the support with two streaming concerts, performing both Phanerozoic albums in their entirety: Phanerozoic I was streamed live from Pier 2, a big hall in the port of Bremen, Germany on March 25, 2021. With more than 1,500 tickets sold, it was the most successful show of the popular “Club 100” streaming events series thus far.

The day after this event, the band rehearsed and recorded Phanerozoic II in its entirety. This performance aired on April 16th as part of the digital edition of Roadburn Festival (this year aptly named Roadburn Redux). Both shows couldn’t have been more different: where the first part boasts with a pompous, mesmerizing lighting production on a big stage, the second part is quite the opposite: intimate, almost cozy, focused on musicianship rather than performance. “We wanted to give people two totally different experiences“, says band leader Robin Staps. “In Bremen, we had the chance to record a proper live show, the way people know us. We played facing towards the front of the stage, to an invisible crowd, essentially to a huge empty room… but we knew people were watching, even if we didn’t see them. There was the same rush of adrenaline right before going on stage as you get before going on any stage, maybe with a little extra anxiety added, because knowing that so many people are watching you without being able to see them yourself was super weird.“

The fans response to these special events was another testimony to how much THE OCEAN connect with their crowd at home in this very intense way was an experience that was “oddly beautiful and frustrating in equal measure,” according to Staps. Now as restrictions begin to lift worldwide, THE OCEAN are more than ready to show fans in-person the power of Phanerozoic Live, with select shows starting this January.

THE OCEAN Tour Dates
January 2022 – Europe
with pg.lost, Hypno5e and Psychonaut:
07/01 – DE- Berlin, Hole44
08/01 – CZ – Prague, Nova Chmelnice
09/01 – AT – Vienna, Szene
10/01 – DE- Munich, Backstage
11/01 – IT – Milan, Legend
12/01 – CH – Lucerne, Sedel
13/01 – FR – Lyon, CCO Villeurbanne
14/01 – ES – Barcelona, Boveda
15/01 – ES – Madrid, Caracol
16/01 – PT – Lisbon, LAV
17/01 – ES – Bilbao, Stage Live
18/01 – FR – Toulouse, Rex
19/01 – FR – Bordeaux, Krakatoa
20/01 – FR – Nantes, Ferrailleur
21/01 – FR – Lille, The Black Lab
22/01 – NL – Utrecht, De Helling
23/01 – BE – Brussels, Botanique
24/01 – FR – Paris, Machine
25/01 – FR – Colmar, Grillen
26/01 – DE – Cologne, Gebäude9
27/01 – DE – Wiesbaden, Schlachthof
28/01 – DE – Hannover, Bei Chez Heinz
29/01 – DE – Osnabrück, Kleine Freiheit

March/April 2022 – U.S./Canada
with Leprous
3/1/2022 Columbus, OH – Skully’s Music Diner
3/2/2022 Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird Music Hall
3/3/2022 Pontiac, MI – The Crofoot Ballroom
3/4/2022 Toronto, ON – The Opera House – Toronto
3/5/2022 Montreal, QC – L’Astral
3/6/2022 Quebec City, QC – Imperial Bell
3/8/2022 Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
3/9/2022 New York, NY – Sony Hall
3/10/2022 Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live – Downstairs
3/11/2022 Washington, DC – Black Cat
3/12/2022 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
3/13/2022 Charlotte, NC – The Underground – Charlotte
3/15/2022 Orlando, FL – The Beacham
3/16/2022 Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
3/17/2022 Nashville, TN – Exit / In
3/18/2022 Dallas, TX – Amplified Live
3/19/2022 Austin, TX – Come And Take It Live
3/21/2022 Mesa, AZ – Nile Theater
3/22/2022 Pomona, CA – The Glass House
3/23/2022 Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre – Los Angeles
3/24/2022 Berkeley, CA – Cornerstone Berkeley
3/25/2022 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
3/26/2022 Vancouver, BC – The Rickshaw Theatre
3/27/2022 Seattle, WA – Neumos
3/29/2022 South Salt Lake, UT – The Commonwealth Room
3/30/2022 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
3/31/2022 Lawrence, KS – Granada Theatre
4/1/2022 St. Paul, MN – Amsterdam Bar and Hall
4/2/2022 Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge

THE OCEAN have released “Jurassic / Cretaceous,” the second video from their upcoming live album, Phanerozoic Live, set for release on November 26th. The live album is a showcase of two live events performed by THE OCEAN – Live In Bremen (Part I) and Live At Roadburn Redux (Part II), and will be released by Metal Blade Records digitally worldwide. Fans eager for physical copies can pre-order the album in various formats at Pelagic Records.

“Jurassic / Cretaceous” Now Playing

Phanerozoic Live Track Listing

Phanerozoic Part I – Live in Bremen:

1. The Cambrian Explosion
2. Cambrian II
3. Ordovicium
4. Silurian
5. Devonian
6. The Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse
7. Permian

Phanerozoic Part II – Live At Roadburn Redux:

1. Triassic
2. Jurassic | Cretaceous
3. Palaeocene
4. Eocene
5. Oligocene
6. Miocene | Pliocene
7. Pleistocene
8. Holocene

“Devonian” (Live in Bremen), as featured on Part I of the album, was released this past September as the first taste from Phanerozoic Live.

In early 2021 with no end of lockdowns in sight, THE OCEAN decided to thank their fans for the support with two streaming concerts, performing both Phanerozoic albums in their entirety: Phanerozoic I was streamed live from Pier 2, a big hall in the port of Bremen, Germany on March 25, 2021. With more than 1,500 tickets sold, it was the most successful show of the popular “Club 100” streaming events series thus far.

The day after this event, the band rehearsed and recorded Phanerozoic II in its entirety. This performance aired on April 16th as part of the digital edition of Roadburn Festival (this year aptly named Roadburn Redux). Both shows couldn’t have been more different: where the first part boasts with a pompous, mesmerizing lighting production on a big stage, the second part is quite the opposite: intimate, almost cozy, focused on musicianship rather than performance. “We wanted to give people two totally different experiences“, says band leader Robin Staps. “In Bremen, we had the chance to record a proper live show, the way people know us. We played facing towards the front of the stage, to an invisible crowd, essentially to a huge empty room… but we knew people were watching, even if we didn’t see them. There was the same rush of adrenaline right before going on stage as you get before going on any stage, maybe with a little extra anxiety added, because knowing that so many people are watching you without being able to see them yourself was super weird.“

The fans response to these special events was another testimony to how much THE OCEAN connect with their crowd at home in this very intense way was an experience that was “oddly beautiful and frustrating in equal measure,” according to Staps. Now as restrictions begin to lift worldwide, THE OCEAN are more than ready to show fans in-person the power of Phanerozoic Live, with select shows starting this December.

THE OCEAN Tour Dates2021
12/11 – DE – Leipzig, Felsenkeller
13/11 – DE – Neunkirchen, Gloomaar Festival
14/11 – DE – Dortmund, Junkyard

2022
with pg.lost, Hypno5e and Psychonaut:
07/01 – DE- Berlin, Hole44
08/01 – CZ – Prague, Nova Chmelnice
09/01 – AT – Vienna, Szene
10/01 – DE- Munich, Backstage
11/01 – IT – Milan, Legend
12/01 – CH – Lucerne, Sedel
13/01 – FR – Lyon, CCO Villeurbanne
14/01 – ES – Barcelona, Boveda
15/01 – ES – Madrid, Caracol
16/01 – PT – Lisbon, LAV
17/01 – ES – Bilbao, Stage Live
18/01 – FR – Toulouse, Rex
19/01 – FR – Bordeaux, Krakatoa
20/01 – FR – Nantes, Ferrailleur
21/01 – FR – Lille, The Black Lab
22/01 – NL – Utrecht, De Helling
23/01 – BE – Brussels, Botanique
24/01 – FR – Paris, Machine
25/01 – FR – Colmar, Grillen
26/01 – DE – Cologne, Gebäude9
27/01 – DE – Wiesbaden, Schlachthof
28/01 – DE – Hannover, Bei Chez Heinz
29/01 – DE – Osnabrück, Kleine Freiheit

Berlin-based progressive metal act THE OCEAN present an unusual live album. One that is a testimony of strange times: their Phanerozoic concept album performed live in its entirety at a time when no shows were happening anywhere in the World.

Check out the live version of “Devonian: Nascent” below. The single is up on all digital platforms – choose your favorite here: orcd.co/phanerozoic-live. Metal Blade Records will release Phanerozoic Live digitally worldwide, and fans can pre-order physical copies in various formats via Pelagic Records here: pelagic-records.com

On September 25, 2020, in the middle of the global pandemic, The Ocean released their 9th studio album Phanerozoic II, the concluding episode of a conceptual trilogy that began with Precambrian 13 years before – and even without any touring to support the new album release, Phanerozoic II entered the official German album charts at #9. With no end of lockdowns in sight, the band decided to thank their fans for the support with two streaming concerts, performing both Phanerozoic albums in their entirety: Phanerozoic I was streamed live from Pier 2, a big hall in the port of Bremen, on March 25, 2021. With more than 1.500 tickets sold, it was the most successful show of the popular “Club 100” streaming events series thus far. The day after this event, the band retreated to synth player and sound designer Peter Voigtmann’s rural studio “Die Mühle”, just outside of Bremen. Here, the band rehearsed and recorded Phanerozoic II in its entirety during the following three days. The performance aired on April 16 as part of the digital edition of Roadburn Festival, this year abtly named Roadburn Redux. Both shows couldn’t have been more different: where the first part boasts with a pompous, mesmerizing lighting production on a big stage, the 2nd part is quite the opposite: intimate, almost cosy, focused on musicianship rather than performance. A stripped down setup in a dark barn, with moody, minimal but not any less efficient lighting. “We wanted to give people two totally different experiences“, says band leader Robin Staps. “In Bremen, we had the chance to record a proper Ocean live show, the way people know us. We played facing towards the front of the stage, to an invisible crowd, essentially to a huge empty room… but we knew people were watching, even if we didn’t see them. There was the same rush of adrenaline right before going on stage as you get before going on at any big open air festival… maybe with a little extra anxiety added, because knowing that so many people are watching you without being able to see them yourself was super weird.“

Despite these surreal circumstances, The Ocean‘s performance in Bremen felt like a real live show, for everyone watching: the energy spilled over to thousands of people from all over the world watching from their homes, who clotted the band’s instagram story with hundreds of shares and comments. The crazy response was another testimony to how much we were all missing live music at this time: to watch a band connect with their crowd at home in this very intense way was an experience that was oddly beautiful and frustrating in equal measure. After this special and invigorating experience, it was clear that the 2nd part had to be intentionally different. “We wanted to do something more cinematic visually, and at the same time more intimate, we wanted to capture the feeling of the 6 of us in a relatively small, confined space, facing each other, in a circle… without the crowd playing any role or being any part of this equation“, says Staps. “It was March and the room that we spent the whole day in was cold, but that was part of the vibe. We had to warm up our fingers constantly.” Much like the first part, the band performed the album live, all together in one room, several times during one long day. The best take was chosen, then mixed by long term live sound engineer Chris Edrich. Dana Schecter (Swans, Insect Ark) created animations of the iconic “collision” motive of the Phanerozoic II album art, specifically for the premiere at Roadburn Festival 2 weeks later, where it aired on Friday night as the highlight and headlining act of the band’s own Pelagic Records showcase. The logistics and preparations for these two events were as challenging as one can imagine: bass player Mattias Hägerstrand flew in from Stockholm and had to quarantine in Berlin before rehearsals. None of the band members (or anyone their age group, for that matter) was vaxxed at that time, and before the Bremen event the entire band and crew were tested outside of the venue, before anyone was allowed to enter. Masks had to be worn at all times until show start, even during soundcheck. Phanerozoic Live is a live album like no other – it is a live album that was recorded in a cultural vacuum, a bizarre time that we will remember for the rest of our lives: a time when the world as we knew it suddenly stopped spinning. It is a live album that does without all the qualities that we usually appreciate about a live album: without the sounds of a cheering, exited crowd. But it is the very absence of this, it is the eerie silence between the songs that reminds us of what we miss most, and that gives these recordings a rare intensity and power.

On Thursday, March 25th at 12PM PST//3PM EST//8PM CET, THE OCEAN will host a special livestream show, featuring a performance of 2018’s Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic in its entirety!

The Ocean comments: “We will be performing ‘Phanerozoic I’ in its entirety on Thursday, March 25, 8PM CET – streamed live from Pier2, a shipyard in the port of Bremen, Germany.
Please join to make this evening special – it will be a show without any audience in the live room. We’ll be playing for you guys at your homes, wherever they are.
After more than a year of absence from playing music, we’re stoked to be getting back together to rehearse and perform – even more so, because we have a new space which we are currently transforming into our own recording studio. This is the beginning of a new era for us. We’ve battled against the inertia of 2020 with writing a whole bunch of new material, and the result is that we’ve got 2 new albums ready to record once the construction work is done.
For now, there are no plans to make this available online after the event, nor to do this again, so don’t miss out on this.
If this goes well, we’ll promise to do something for ‘Phanerozoic II‘ a bit later in the year. ;)”

Purchase your ticket at: club100-bremen.de/the-ocean. Ticketholders will be able to replay the full stream for 48 hours from the start of the show.

Last year, The Ocean released the follow-up to Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic: Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic – the band’s most successful album to-date, with the highest chart entries in their history (including a phenomenal Top 10 entry in the Official German Album Charts!). Tracked in Iceland, Spain and Germany and produced by esteemed studio guru Jens Bogren, Phanerozoic II is underpinned by some of the most imaginative and challenging music that The Ocean have made yet. Divided into two sections – Mesozoic and Cenozoic – the album once again showcases the detail and depth that have become two of The Ocean‘s most enduring trademarks. Stream and purchase the record now here: metalblade.com/theocean

The Ocean recently released their 8th full-length album via Metal Blade Records (CD / digital) and the band’s own Pelagic Records (vinyl);  Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic is their most successful album to date with the highest chart entries in the band’s history, including a phenomenal Top 10 entry in the Official German Album Charts.

Now, the band is releasing a stunning tour documentary from their 2019 Siberian Traps tour, which the band shot themselves. Presented by CVLT Nation, it can be viewed at: cvltnation.com

Robin Staps comments: “One of the greatest adventures with this band was the 5 weeks ‘Siberian Traps’ tour last summer, which started in Belarus, Armenia and Georgia, then took us on a 10.000km ride from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, all across Russia and Kazakhstan from west to east, before concluding in Japan. We lived on trains for weeks. We had to leave half of our gear behind at the airport of Nur-Sultan, Kazachstan. We experienced the solitude of lake Baikal, the solemnity of Armenian monasteries, the exuberance of Georgian hospitality and the silent anonymity of Shibuya crowds.
Some of these moments were captured on film, by band members. We had no camera guy with us, nor any crew: this tour was just us. Our sound guy had second thoughts and bailed a week before the tour. Alex Kraudelt compiled these self-made snapshots into a silent documentary, after our return home.
We found the instrumental version of ‘Triassic’ to be the perfectly fitting soundtrack: also because parts of it were recorded during our one week stay in Yerevan, Armenia with traditional flutes and woodwinds player Hayk Karoyi Karapetyan, whom you will see in the opening and closing section of the film. The song itself was inspired by my own backpacking trips through the Middle East 15 years ago, long before the current wars ravaged the region.”

Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic can be streamed and purchased here: metalblade.com/theocean

Tracked in Iceland, Spain and Germany and produced by esteemed studio guru Jens Bogren, Phanerozoic II is underpinned by some of the most imaginative and challenging music that The Ocean – completed by drummer Paul Seidel, keyboard maestro Peter Voigtmann, bassist Mattias Hagerstrand and guitarist David Ramis Åhfeldt – have made yet. Divided into two sections – Mesozoic and Cenozoic – the album once again showcases the detail and depth that have become two of The Ocean‘s most enduring trademarks. While ostensibly delving into the extraordinary realities of the Earth’s shifting temporal tides, Staps and his comrades have long drawn hazy parallels between their chosen subjects and the emotional experiences that their music strives to convey. Phanerozoic II is essentially an album about time, with some very poignant and pointed allusions to the modern world woven into the new music’s spiritual fabric.

Staps explains, “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.”

Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic track-listing
1. Triassic
2. Jurassic | Cretaceous
3. Palaeocene
4. Eocene
5. Oligocene
6. Miocene | Pliocene
7. Pleistocene
8. Holocene

The Ocean tour dates
w/ pg.lost, Hypno5e, Svalbard
Jan. 7 – Wiesbaden, Germany – Schlachthof
Jan. 8 – Colmar, France – Grillen
Jan. 9 – Paris, France – La Machine
Jan. 10 – Nantes, France – Ferrailleur
Jan. 11 – Toulouse, France – Le Rex
Jan. 12 – Bilbao, Spain – Stage Live
Jan. 13 – Lisbon, Portugal – LAV
Jan. 14 – Madrid, Spain – Caracol
Jan. 15 – Murcia, Spain – Gamma
Jan. 16 – Barcelona, Spain – Boveda
Jan. 17 – Bordeaux, France – Krakatoa
Jan. 18 – Lyon, France – CCO
Jan. 19 – Fribourg, Switzerland – Fri-Son
Jan. 20 – Lucerne, Switzerland – Sedel
Jan. 21 – Vienna, Austria – Viper Room
Jan. 22 – Prague, Czech Republic – Nova Chelmnice
Jan. 23 – Berlin, Germany – Festsaal
Jan. 25 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Pumpehuset
Jan. 26 – Hamburg, Germany – Bahnhof Pauli
Jan. 27 – Leipzig, Germany – Conne Island
Jan. 28 – Munich, Germany – Backstage
Jan. 29 – Essen, Germany – Zeche Carl
Jan. 30 – Osnabruck, Germany – Kleine Freiheit
Jan. 31 – Zwolle, Netherlands – Hedon
Feb. 1 – Cologne, Germany – Volta
Feb. 2 – Brussels, Belgium – Botanique
Feb. 3 – Utrecht, Netherlands – De Helling
Feb. 4 – Bristol, UK – The Fleece
Feb. 5 – Glasgow, UK – Slay
Feb. 6 – Manchester, UK – Club Academy
Feb. 7 – London, UK – 229
Feb. 8 – Brighton, UK – Patterns