I'm really glad this was the album by The Ocean that was picked, it's my favorite by them and also my introduction to the band. I first discovered The Ocean because they were on tour supporting The Dillinger Escape Plan the year this album came out, and even back then this album felt ahead of its time. I saw them again a couple weeks back opening for Leprous, which I think was their first time back in the US in almost 10 years? They put on a great set as always and this time I actually knew the songs. Maybe you could check this out on your own time, but they performed their latest album in full for the fest Roadburn (which was completely livestreamed due to COVID) and it was an incredible performance. When the new album came out I wasn't too into it because while they started as a post-metal band, The Ocean have been getting proggier and proggier over the years and ditching the post-metal stuff, but that performance got me super excited to see them again and I was able to appreciate the new album more.
It's interesting to think of this album in retrospective, looking at the musical landscape of the time and realizing just how forward thinking this album was.
I love this band. One of the best modern prog metal bands. Loic, the singer, broke both his legs a few days ago in an accident, and performed in a wheelchair for a few shows. He will undergo surgery. For more info check their social media.
I was at the last show he performed injured and it was still absolutely incredible. I've liked leprous for years now but it was The Ocean that brought me to the show and I've only found out about them about a year ago. These guys should be at the forefront of metal yet they are basically unknown in metal as a whole genre.
The Ocean changed my view on music and you have further enhanced my understanding on WHY I love them so much. Your musical knowledge is wildly impressive. The fact that you can listen to a 9 minute song and remember SO many little details in each section blows me away and listening to your analyses helps me recognize all the things that The Ocean does well. I know it isn't your style of music but I love that you appreciate the love and attention to detail that they pour into their music. The fact that you nailed the Stalker theme shows how knowledgeable and perceptive you are. I kept thinking to myself, "There's no way he actually even comes close to what this album is about, right?" Then you mentioned the movie "Annihilation" and I knew you'd figure it out. Wild. You're awesome, dude. If you do any more of these guys soon, I'd love to hear you check out Heaven TV or She Was the Universe.
So as far as the water sounds and theme go, this album has been described by the band as being a journey into the depths of the ocean. The further you get in the album the deeper you go. The music gets continually heavier and darker.
Your whole analysis about the Freudian elements and the references and inspiration from the movie Stalker are actually right on and 100% correct and were stated by the composer, lyricist, and guitarist, Robin Staps in interviews about the album. Also fun fact about the water samples, most, if not all, of them are taken from old submarine movies, which were specifically utilized because the movies helped convey the same elements of claustrophobia that The Ocean wanted to play with in the album to reference the heightening water pressure as you get deeper into the conceptual ocean. Basically to sum up, The Ocean is a fucking awesome band and just does the coolest things ever on their albums.
Oh nice! Kinda disheartening to know I was on the right track with the Freud stuff but dismissed it halfway in to the album but getting the Stalking thing right is a huge bonus! And yeah, The Ocean is just a beast of a band at pulling all of these different ideas together.
Hey man, I'm glad. My brain was going wild trying to come to terms with the idea that I wasn't grasping at straws here, that the band actually did marry so many different schools of knowledge into a single, cohesive sonic adventure.
Holy hell, the entire album?! Thanks man! One of my favourite albums from one of my favourite bands. Also, gotta respect the analysis! Too often reaction channels just give their surface level reaction, and don’t try to understand the music. Good work man!!
My whole goal with this channel is to think too deeply and talk too much about music. If you want depth to your reactions then this is the place for you. :)
I'm a third into the video, but I just wanted to mention that, as other comments have hinted at, they are a band that definitely work around their theme, both the songwriting and musicianship are in service of their concepts rather than the other way around. That's why they trascend the Post-Metal genre even if a lot of their music fits that label. The music here gets heavier, darker and also dronier as we "go down", both to represent increasing pressure, darkness but also a less diverse/abundant presence of living creatures. The earlier tracks are definitely busier because the top layers of the ocean are filled with life, things get quieter the more you go down. It even fits the psychological parallel theme. The more in depth you go, the more you reach core concepts/ideas/feelings/impulses, and less about the cluttered "superficial" level of anyone's mind.
Holy sh*t, the entire album? Incredible. I remember buying this album blindly just because of the cover. Best decision I made that day. If I remember correctly, this album was intended to be one huge purely instrumental track and they only just added the lyrics after the rest was already recorded und broke it up into separate songs.
@@CriticalReactions If I remember right, Loic, the singer, basically made random, melodic noises over the already finished track and they made the lyrics to fit. Edit: Found where I heard it from. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OdyR1sjBrbM.html @ around 3:50.
If I remember right this was originally written as a single piece of instrumental music due to the vocalist having some sort of health issue. But then things changed and vocals were added on at somepoint
So glad you did this reaction, these guys deserve more recognition. I'm also glad you checked the tracklist names as I could see you working out but not quite getting to the point of realisation you had when you looked it up. Also they've always done concept albums heliocentric and anthropocentric are cool double concept albums and as you know already they've done one on time periods starting with precambrian and then phanerozoic part 1 and 2. Their albums fluxion and aeolian are also double concept albums but ive not looked into what they are about aeolian is a good album but I'm still to hear fluxion.
The treat of the album is that the further you get into it, metaphorically speaking, the deeper you are getting into the ocean, which is what the songs titles represent - the different levels of the ocean. Also the deeper you go, the darker, heavier and doomier it gets. Also fun fact: this was entirely supposed to be an instrumental album and then got switched to only having vocals on the last track and then he (lead guitars/songwriter) decided it was best to have a full on vocal album. This is a huge album for me. It was there in my darkest times, I learned it entirely on guitar and still play it to this day and it is the album that got me into prog music. Which then got me to bands like between the buried and me, animals as leaders, native construct etc. Thank you so much for this reaction. This band and album needs so much more spotlight on them, it's insane.
THANK YOU! To whoever suggested this. Bought it pretty close to release and loved it (still do)! I've got NO explanation (or excuse) as to why I haven't listened to it more (probably not at all the last 8 years or so...) or why I didn't dive further into the band. They've been on my "to do list" and list of favourite German bands ever since.... Anyways, such a great album to do in it's intirety and what a great job you did man! Getting better and better at lyrical analasys as well - love to follow your thoughts in different directions. To me there's a parallel between different stories musically and lyrically and it spells "deep" - going beyond the surface in mind, ocean and beeing/existence.
Thanks! And you're right about the parallel in the different stories of this album. I'm not 100% sure I understood it all but there was a ton of depth to all of it.
Loved when you realized the theme of the album with the ocean layers haha! Such a great record. Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic is usually considered either their best or second best album along with this one, definitely worth checking out
I'm really late to the party but as always pleasure to listen to you talk about music (instead of standard youtube reaction reaction aka " *amazed face while the song plays* thanks for watching guys". I could have sworn I was subbed to you but I wasn't, fixed now. Btw, you were spot on. The moment you mentioned the movie Stalker I literally screamed out loud haha. So the story of the concept behind this album is it was originally going to be an instrumental album since their vocalist (Loic) had issues with his throat, they composed majority of it and (i think) even recorded demos, then it turned out Loic is back to being healthy, so they had to come up with some lyrics complimenting the music. They chose, surprise surprise, the movie Stalker. Initially they took lines straight from the movie itself and used them exclusively as the lyrics. At the same time they messaged the company having rights to the movie to get allowance, yet no response was sent their way. So they were forced to more or less write new lyrics, but they did what they could to have them revolve around similiar themes and matters, which (quite clearly, as your personal analysys proves) was a success in the end. Again, I'm really late to the party but big thanks for this video! Much love my man
Just add on what you was saying about the sound of the band. When they have a concept they keep to that style that sound. When they have a different concept for another album it's very different and sounds like a different band. All that being said the ocean have a unique sound and I can hear its still the ocean on all their albums. If I was to recommend another album I'd struggle because they are all so different and so good and that's why they are my favourite band along with karnivool and tool
I Hope you listen to Precambrian, Phan 1 and Phan 2 one of these days. I know you have reviewed a few songs, but those three albums go hand in hand as their names are based in geologic history. It would be awesome in my opinion to hear your opinions on them! Demersal is also quoting The Book of Revalations btw ^^!
Don't really have much to add besides to say that it was really, really gratifying to watch someone share their thoughts and almost perfectly interprate my favourite album of all time on their first damn listen. I remember seeing someone recommend it to me online and the download link they provided was only the instrumental version. Fell completely headover heals in love with it on the first listen. Was a couple weeks until I learned that there was a version with full vocals and I fell in love all over again. Got to see the band play the full record live when they came to Australia and it was truly something special! Funny story: the show was nearly cancelled because the band members were drinking beers on the street outside the venue (apparently a very normal thing to do in Germany, but a very illegal thing to do in Aus) and had to deal with cops trying to give them an extensive lecture and not believing they had to be get inside to play a show. Anyway, turns out I did have quite a bit to add, but glad you enjoyed the record nonetheless! Have a good one mate :)
The Ocean is greatness. This album is literally #1 on my list; they just nailed it. If someone asks me what my favorite metal album of all time is; this is my current champion, and they are going to have a tough time being dethroned, for me.
I'd also add that while "epilogue" doesn't work for that introductory song's place and function in the album, "epigraph" pretty much nails it (and comes from the same root).
So I'm a month late to this. I definitely was one of the people that wanted you to react to this, because I knew you would enjoy it. Not only that though, you went above and beyond with the reaction to it. Absolutely incredible. You did this justice in my eyes.
Like a few other commenters, this was my intro to these guys, I'm so stoked for this! This was one of the albums that really solidified my love for concept albums. You should also do yourself a favor and find the instrumental version and listen to it as well, they make some changes between the versions and both are spectacular! Also, if you're doing entire albums please, please, please, check out either Veil of Imagination or Epigone by Wilderun!
Your analysis of the theme, concept, and lyrics was so spot on, it was super impressive. The guitarist Robin has said that the music is meant to get heavier and more claustrophobic (with groans and radar pings from submarines starting to accompany the water bubbles becoming muffled) as the album goes on to emulate the descent into the depths of the ocean. This is also a metaphor for the descent into the human subconscious via the lens of Stalker, which you picked up on. Robin has also said there’s a lot of Freud references in the lyrics and titles so your theory was correct there as well. In case you didn’t know, the lyrics to Demersal are quoted directly from the Book of Revelations (which would explain the weird line about the figs). Maybe that’ll help you figure out how it ties in to the rest of the theme and lyrics. Lastly, listening to the instrumental version of the album might give you a better sense of the use of samples and water sounds without the vocals and with a different mix. Just want to add that I loved this style of video. Was really good to listen to in the background like a podcast. Keep up the great work!
I didn't catch onto the claustrophobic idea but if I listen to the album again I'll definitely be paying attention to any changes the production regarding instrument spacing. Thanks for the info about Demersal. Knowing that it is directly related to the bible means I can certainly explore a religious angle to the song/album as well; whereas before I kinda dismissed it since the tracks before it didn't seem to include any religious notions.
I'm definitely downloading this album and most likely more of this band. I've been told I would really like them and I have heard a song here and there, but full albums, especially concept albums are my thing. Absolutely loved this. Oh, and now I'm going to have to watch Stalker and Annihilation.🙂 Also, I watched the entire video but took an intermission in the middle.
I don't blame anyone for taking intermissions. I enjoy some longer video on RU-vid as well and usually only get in 30-45 minutes per watch session. As for Stalker and Annihilation: YES! Stalker is a bit slower, longer film and is a late '70s Russian film so your mileage may vary with that one. Annihilation is 2019 (I think) and is an audio/visual masterpiece. I recommend both but understand if Stalker isn't everyone's cup of tea.
Great album, just got to see The Ocean live and they were amazing! (unfortunately loïc the vocalist somehow broke both his legs on tour so the rest of the band is finishing without him) it's interesting how much you hit the nail on the head about some of the stuff, especially the ties to Stalker. That film was heavy inspiration for the lyrical content of the album
@@CriticalReactions yeah I put that as a footnote right in the beginning and you were on point the whole time. Great analysis as always, I’m extremely glad you got to run through this album
They're playing this full album live coming up this summer for a few shows, I'll be at the Chicago show in late July. If you're able to go it'll be amazing
Very excited with your review of this masterful album. Yes, the album is a theme around the different layers of the ocean from surface to floor. The album is meant to be one track (a la colors) and with no vocals but they added vocals last minute. The ocean is one of my favorite bands for how layered and conceptual they are….they bring in a LOT of philosophy into their work. I would absolutely LOVE to see you do full album reviews of Precambrian and then Phanerozoic I&II!
You know it's funny I consider myself a fan of The Ocean and I really like this album, but I've never dived that deep (pun defiantly intended) into the meaning of the whole thing. You made me appreciate an album I've already loved even more. Thanks.
That's what I love about doing this stuff, giving people a greater love/appreciation for their favorite music. Well, that and learning about all of this awesome stuff!
Dunno about that. They've always been proggy, and the earlier material seemed more varied and all over the place style-wise. To me, the last two Phanerozoic albums seem more consistent in terms of style, and they definitely sound like they belong in the same genre as Cult of Luna.
I'm glad you listened to this, but I really hoped you would of listened to the Instrumental version of this since the album was conceived and written as a single piece instrumental movement. The vocals were really put in afterwards. IMO the album really shines as a instrumental as the music really allows you to go on the journey they intended. It's a good album regardless.
Really enjoy this kind of long form reaction/analysis! If I remember correctly from your past reactions, you seem to enjoy the band Persefone. To me, their compositions are so rich and dynamic, and their albums are the best when listened to all the way through (interludes and such). So I would love to see your thoughts on either their most acclaimed LP,Spiritual Migration, or their latest, Metanoia. Both fantastic albums that I think you’d really get a lot out of!
I don’t know if youre still checking comments for your older videos, but on The chance that you are I really Think you should check out Devin Townsends album Empath. Its a terrific concept album that spans tons of different genres from djent to disney musicals all in The purpose of examining Human empathy and connections. It’s really fucking goofy and deceptively complex
Kinda late, my favourite The Ocean album! You were spot on on so many things. As for Cognitive Dissonance, I think that lyrically it depicts the Apocalypse of John. The wrath of the Lamb, the moon that turns to blood etc. We know the Ocean are critical of Christianity and are atheists. Maybe the subconscious fear of this Apocalypse, even if we know it's just mythology gives away this feeling of inner dissonance. Some of us have a fear of Hell, even if we know it's fake, because we grew up that way. So yeah, I feel it's part of the subconscious psyche.
Other's have mentioned the connection to the Book of Revelation but the fig tree thing is also a connection to jesus cursing fig trees for not being in season. The thing that they were cursed by god for (being temporal, temporary pleasures) are now casting down unripened fruit that are useless, a sort of monkeys paw of Jesus' desires. Also, Stalker was based off of "A Roadside Picnic"
Odd that you reviewed this Band/Album I saw them a week ago playing with Leprous in Dallas,TX. Never heard of either band , went with a friend. Im still not sure what to make of their performance. However Leprous blew me away.
@@progperljungman8218 they were supporting, their sound wasnt great if you asked me. that is why im still not sure what to make of their performance. I could see and tell some of the ideas/concepts they were going for but some reason it seemed as if it didnt come through completely.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed this. If you're interested, I do this every other week, though my last two album reactions are sitting in DMCA hell (hopefully they'll be available soon).
@@CriticalReactions Thanks for mentioning. I would definitely check out an analysis of the album Zon by a very unknown band called The World is Quiet Here. That album has blown my socks off. It's very unique and so well produced and mixed for such a new band. I found it quite astonishing.
@@Scirzo I just saw that Zon was released and checked out some snippets from the album. I think I tossed it in my list of stuff to check out too. I can't promise a video dedicated to it but I'm exploring ways to incorporate my off-screen listening into the channel too so you might hear me talking about the album in the future.
@@CriticalReactions maybe just Heliacal Vessels II....😅it's such an amazing album and that song captures it all. These guys deserve more attention! It's crazy good stuff. Anyways, great to see you interact this way. So, I am just striking while the iron is hot! Who knows? Something beautiful might arize. 🤘🏻
I'm glad I'm not the only one who couldn't make heads or tails of the lyrics. Also I feel as though the latter songs weren't getting any slower nor heavier, besides the final tracks Demersal and Benthic.
2:22:27 🤣 that's really funny when you put it in that context! It is a Bible quote though if I'm not mistaken, I think that whole paragraph is actually.
The ocean collective was first as they had like 20 different musicians on precambrian. Heliocentric was the first album that they changed to the ocean and that's when loic the vocalist joined. Heliocentric was 2 albums before pelagial.
This is my first time listening to The Ocean, but I know of them because they will be touring with Karnivool. I don't remember if you have done Karnivool yet.
Yes, Bryan has reacted to Karnivool. I actually downloaded them from his reaction. I had never heard of them before. This channel has given me a wealth of new music/bands to check out.
This is a stab in the dark, but I always guessed that Abyssopelagic was made softer than Bathyalpelagic as metaphor to the relative calmness of that oceanic region and potentially psyche. As you pointed out in the diagram you brought up, you'll find things like large fish, sharks, octopus, and squid a lot in the mesopelagic and bathyalpelagic zones. The light penetrating these regions allows for sight and requires quicker/more constant movement. Once you get into the abyssal and hadal zones, things start to get more weird than scary, imo. Then demersal and benthic, referring to the bottom of bodies of large bodies of water, make sense being heavy again, especially with the sluggishness and spaceyness of doom metal. As for the psyche, I feel like that metaphor breaks down a little apart from the Id residing at the bottom. Still, this album is undeniably brilliant.
I like that idea, not only because it makes sense but also because it allows me to keep thinking that each song is sonically tied to each layer -- which is such a cool concept!
Btw, the fig lyric I feel it's a reference to Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. If I'm not misremembering, there's a kinda popular section in which she refers to different branches of a fig tree as different possibilities in life, with the branches dying anytime you make a choice and leave others behind. Maybe the idea is that the unripe figs are possibilities not taken? Every choice you didn't make is a fig taken from the tree way too soon? The fig metaphor is related to depression and regret too (she committed suicide), but I'm not extremely knowledgable about Plath's work.
The odd time signature disappearing makes me think it's because of the idea of The Ocean being the origin of life. (Also why they call it "home".) The deeper, the more primitive.
@@muskett00 I had completely forgot about Spirited Away but I watched it around the same age that she is now. And I think she'll love the character design. I'll have to run that by her and see if she's interested.
I have a biweekly poll where some of the albums are suggested by the patrons and some are albums that interest me personally. And yeah, really great stuff so far.
@@CriticalReactions It was truly incredible. They're a very talented band who know how to put on a show. As others mentioned here in the comments, the singer Loic had broken his legs 2 nights before and Portland was the first show where he was not attending as he had to fly back to Switzerland. The band abandoned the setlist they had been using and played the most recent album (Phanerozoic II, which you reacted to "Triassic" from I believe) front to back. Stellar. Love your review of this. Your evolving understanding of the metaphor of the pelagic layers was enjoyable to watch. You also noted something I had never noticed before where the music also went from lighter hard rock to metal as the album progressed.
I haven’t watched the whole thing yet, but he hasn’t clicked that the entire theme of the album is about being pulled under the water and descending to the ocean floor, but he’s getting the idea. It’s a testament to The Ocean’s creativity that they convey it so well.
This album didn't instantly click me, mostly due to the freneticness that's in tracks Bathyal II and III, but I've warmed up to it since. I'm not really a huge mathcore type person, besides a couple exceptions here and there. There's also something in the production here that's missing to me, it's probably because it's not as polished as what I'm used to in modern metal. I much prefer Phanerozoic I but this album is great still, as well as it's concept, just not my preferred by the band. in Phanero I the production was much more polished, as well as included really great synthwork that really elevated things to the next level for me.
I’m about halfway through. This is one of my all-Time fav bands. This is the first album I heard from them and were intrigued by their concepts, musicianship, and diversity in sound. Diving further (pun intended) into their discography, every album is different. They seem to be always experimenting and adapting the the concepts they write about lyrically. And no, not all their music is “ocean” based. Their first two albums Aeolin/fluxion are a double release when they were more a “collective”. Each album has a bunch of different people on it. Tbh, not super familiar with those works. Their next two albums, another double release, heliocentric/anthropocentric are criticism of the Catholic church in the early enlightenment period moving into today’s age. Precambrian/Phanerozoic 1 & 2 are different ages in earths history and explore what was going on then and how it might relate to us now. Got to see them live with Leprous (another top five band for me) recently and they were KILLER. Super tight and the sound was HUGE. Sounded better than the album (both bands)! Your reaction when you realized what they were doing 😂 Thanks for such an in-depth analysis of an entire album…one of the reasons I love your channel. You always bring out things that I’ve missed or just don’t have the ear to do. You definitely nailed it with the underwater and being pulled down. There’s plenty of comments here talking about the musical/lyrical themes and overall concept. Something I love is how the music slows and thickens as we’re almost as you’re falling down to the bottom of the ocean. By the end, it’s so thick and sludgy without much movement. Definitely parallels what happens when you explore your own depths. When practicing deep introspection, many world practices prepare the mind and body for stillness by slowing the breath, practicing slow movements, or repetitive hypnotic processes. I like your point of beauty in the abyss. This is something I’ve been reflecting on my own. We tend to place things in categories of “good” and “bad” (and I do believe there are bad and good things), but there is beauty in being able to look at the whole picture of oneself. There can be terrifying creatures down there but ignoring them or simply calling them “bad” isn’t looking at the entire picture. Looking at the lights of some of these creatures is mesmerizing and beautiful! Relating this to myself, with acceptance of this whole picture, one can move forward to be one’s true selves. The lyric “how much control do we have over what we wish for?” is sung throughout the album. Tbh I haven’t looked how that line is expanded as the album deepens. (Keep editing my comment as the video is playing 😂) just a theory, but maybe the songs are moving towards simplicity as we move deeper into the psyche/ocean. In the ocean, the deeper we go the simpler things appear, yet there is still a deep complexity to life down there. Similar to our own psyche. Maybe as we dive deeper the “problems” boil down to a simple answer like “lack of love in ones life” or “fear of failure”, etc., yet has lots of complexities- why is there lack of love?, what caused this lack of love? What issues rise from this? Etc…again, just a theory after listening to your thoughts and the album again! Thanks Bryan 🤘🏽 Next album reaction- Slice the Cake- Odyssey to the West!!
Dude! I absolutely love the simplicity idea. I mentioned the rhythms and meters simplifying but I don't think I really tied that back to the mental theme, just the ocean layers. That's a really great connection there! Odyssey to the West is in the polls so it'll get done eventually. :)
Nice! My way of getting around to that was a bit obtuse but I'm glad I got around to it. One of the few times I've been familiar with external influences to a song/album.
In my opinion they are the best at painting the picture for their concepts. You can tell the concept by listening with no other information never heard another band or artist do it like them. Their phanerozoic albums make you feel like you are there in that time. You don't even need to know what that album is about. Put it on for someone that doesn't know anything about it and ask them what it is about, anyone I've done it to said dinosaurs, which is close enough 🙂 So horribly underated as a band though.
