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The Ocean: Anthropocentric
24/02/11 || Khlysty
I know, I know, I took my sweet fucking time with this one. Not undeservedly, I must add, but… Anyway, it’s time for us to review the second part of The Ocean’s magnum opus about man’s emancipation, from religion (in “Heliocentric”, the first part of this one-two punch) and from himself. Heavy subject matter, to be sure, but even if one hasn’t read “The Brothers Karamazov” by his unholiness Fyodor Dostoyevsky, so one cannot fathom what the hell the singer’s screaming and wailing about, there’s always the music to listen to, enjoy and try to analyze here, yes?
As is wont with all double albums by The Ocean – and, make no mistake, this is a double album, meant to be faced as a whole – one part displays their more orchestral and post-rock/post-metal tendencies, while the other is dedicated to DA HEAVY. Already having displayed their acumen in writing and performing complex, almost neoclassical pieces in “Heliocentric”, our favorite German collective lets loose this time around. Taking cues from “Panopticon”-era Isis and the less-than-universe-collapsing-heavy works of Neurosis, the long songs of “Anthropocentric” are choke-full of downtowned menace and density.
Whereas “Heliocentric” seemed almost too melodic for its own good, “Anthropocentric” reaches the point of overkill, with the guitars sounding like tyrannosaurs on Percodan, the drums pounding mercilessly their complex-but-understandable rhythmic patterns and Loïc Rossetti sounding like within the space of a few months has grown from a technically proficient crooner into a full-blown, fire-and-brimstone-eating growler, up with the best of them. Of course, this being The Ocean, every behemoth of a song is interspersed with softer parts, that make the overall heaviness even more suffocating, while Rossetti displays great versatility, jumping from a tortured scream to clean singing – even in higher registers, without ever sounding forced or like a eunuch – to growling, without missing a beat or sounding, y’know, bad.
The songs are based around dense riffing that sometimes approaches but never enters math-metal territory, while the arrangements seem more simple this time around, more to the point, more, ah, yes, that’s the word, BRUTAL! Looky here, boys and gals, this is The Ocean at their heavy mode, which means that it might take a couple of listens before each and every song resolves itself and displays its intricacies/delicacies more fully. Of course, this being The Ocean – again – there are a couple of subdued/melodic/acoustic/whatever tunes contained in here, but they’re just breathers – moments of beauty and clarity inside the storm-and-thunder-ridden sonicscape that’s “Anthropocentric”. That is, until the last song, “The Almightiness Contradiction”, which closes the album with the sounds of violins, cellos and acoustic instrumentation, capping things off beautifully and somberly.
Look, I’ve been a fan of this “hard-soft-hard” post-metal style of music for quite some time now and, having listened to many of the NeurIsis-style bands, I can easily tell you that when it comes to pure aggression, The Ocean is one of the best of them, displaying both brawn and brains. Anyway, there’s not much more to tell you ‘bout “Anthropocentric”, other than that the CD is a pleasure to have and that the production is undoubtedly one of the best of 2010, but, y’know, that’s not news for the band. Bottom line is that “Anthropocentric” is a great companion piece to “Heliocentric”, each record fully complementing the other. Taken on its own, it’s a perfect display of the band’s powers, capturing flawlessly its power at its most un-harnessed and its sensibilities at their most undiluted. Wondrous record.
- Information
- Released: 2010
- Label: Metal Blade
- Website: www.theoceancollective.com
- Band
- Loïc Rossetti: vocals
- Robin Staps: guitars, electronics
- Jonathan Nido: guitars
- Louis Jucker: bass, vocals
- Luc Hess: drums
- Julien Fehlmann: sound
- Esther Monnat: cello
- Celine Portat: viola
- Estelle Beiner: violin
- Dalai Theophilopoulou: cello
- Mitch Hertz: guitar solo on “Sewers Of The Soul”
- Sheila Aguinaldo: vocals on “A Tiny Grain Of Faith”
- Tracklist
- 01. Anthropocentric
- 02. The Grand Inquisitor I: Karamazov Baseness
- 03. She Was The Universe
- 04. For He That Wavereth…
- 05. The Grand Inquisitor II: Roots & Locusts
- 06. The Grand Inquisitor III: A Tiny Grain of Faith
- 07. Sewers Of The Soul
- 08. Wille Zum Untergang
- 09. Heaven TV
- 10. The Almightiness Contradiction
