As for 2013, 4 of 5 band members are from Switzerland, while its founder continues to live in Berlin. In addition, Chris Breuer, a touring bass player who also made a recording appearance on Pelagial, is a citizen of Berlin too. Breuer is touring member who is filling in for Louis Jucker (who has gone on hiatus due to his desire to finish university studies) for all shows in 2013, also has recorded some parts for band's 6th album "Pelagial" released in the same year.
The Ocean was founded in 2001 by guitarist and songwriter Robin Staps. During the following two years, about 40 musicians joined and left the band until a stable line-up was established. July 2002 saw The Ocean play their first concert at Berlin's now defunct semi-legal Eimer Club. Shortly after, the band released their eponymous debut album featuring Islands/Tides, a 30-minute-long song that also constituted the substance of their early live shows.
After a brief tour with Swedish crust punk outfit Coma in early 2003, the band signed to Make My Day Records, which then released Fogdiver, an EP consisting of five instrumental songs—despite the fact that on stage, at least two singers could be found. Unlike its predecessor, this recording received considerable acclaim from critics throughout a variety of genres.
During winter and spring 2004, The Ocean recorded what was to become the material for their two following albums. The calmer and more atmospheric half of this recording session was released as Fluxion in August 2004; a joint effort of Make My Day and Throne Records. While the fact that the band now used vocals on their recordings seemed to make the music more accessible to some, it also caused many other critics to consider the album a step backwards in terms of innovation and originality. In interviews, the band would comment on this by pointing out the perceived closed-mindedness of some of the reviewers and their supposed inability to deal with the harshness and brutality the anti-Christian, anti-theistic vocals now added to The Ocean's sound.
After signing to Metal Blade Records in summer 2005, all the remaining songs from the session were released as Aeolian. Since Fluxion and Aeolian had originally been planned as a double CD with a mellow and a brutal part — a plan that did not work out — Aeolian came across as very different from its predecessor. Unlike on previous albums, classical instruments and electronic sounds were hardly used here, making the record sound rather minimalistic. But whereas Fluxion had featured only one singer, seven of them could be found on Aeolian, among them Nate Newton, Sean Ingram, and Tomas Hallbom, whose names were also used extensively for the album's promotion campaign. According to the band, Meta's voice on Fluxion had created a monotony that was to be avoided on Aeolian. March 2006 saw the North American release of the album. Later that year, a joint vinyl version of Fluxion and Aeolian was released by Throne Records, featuring three records in different colors. Recently in late 2007, they released a new 2 disc album entitled Precambrian. In April 2008, The Ocean embarked on a year long tour through Europe and North America with bands like Intronaut, Opeth, and At The Gates. In April 2009 it was announced that primary Precambrian vocalist, and full time touring member Mike Pilat was leaving the band for personal reasons and other commitments.
On November 17, 2009, Robin Staps announced that a replacement vocalist had been found, Loïc Rossetti. The Ocean released two albums in 2010, Heliocentric on April 9 and Anthropocentric on November 9. Taken together, the two albums "represent a fundamental and philosophical critique of Christianity," with Heliocentric describing the internal battles within the Catholic Church over the heliocentrism of Copernicus and Galileo, and Anthropocentric critiquing the fundamentalist Protestant view of Creationism.
They announced that their first live DVD would be filmed on the 29 January 2011 in Berlin at the Museum für Musikinstrumente and will only contain tracks from their album Precambrian.
On August 3, 2011, The Ocean announced via its Facebook page that Robin Staps had been working on new material for an upcoming album. They stated that recording would get under way in early 2012 and hinted at the possibility of releasing another double album. In a September 2012 article on the website MetalSucks, Robin stated that the new album was due for an April or May release in 2013 and would have very few if any vocals, but elaborated that Loïc remains the vocalist of the group despite the change in style.
The band released Pelagial on April 29, 2013 in the United States. The CD version contained two discs - one has the songs with vocals, the other is purely instrumental.
On October 20, 2013, the band announced the departure of guitarist Jonathan Nido and drummer Luc Hess. It was later announced that Paul Seidel of the band War From A Harlots Mouth would replace Hess after the current tour. Additionally on the 8th of December Robin Staps announced via the bands Facebook page that Australian Damian Murdoch would be the bands new guitarist.
Orosirian
The Ocean Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Adamantly taking hold of every bruised, battered heart
And every slack, weary limb knuckles down
For we shall bend to the cause: the open sea awaits us all
Surrender breeds no remorse
We suffered through the ordeal
They came to get me in my dreams
To take me down to the ocean
And see that heaven lies behind
And we shall quake, reading those words on this book's final page: for the great blue cold now reigns
For the great blue cold now reigns
Certain and endless, it seemed
But every petty grain of sand
And every bone will be washed out to the sea
Numbness unfurls in each and every brain
The coast now is clear
The air is thin
And as your own plot unfolds
It gets more difficult to bribe
The magistrates of your own psyche
What will you say when all the lights go dim
And the cup of disappointment is full to the brim? For the great blue cold now reigns
For the great blue cold now reigns
Only in death shall we be sage
When every ocean has dessicated
And we shall quake, reading those words
On this book's last page: for the great blue cold now...
For the great blue cold now...
For the great blue cold now... reigns!
The Ocean's song Orosirian is a melancholic composition, reflecting on the inevitability of death and the power of the sea. The lyrics convey the acceptance of the fact that the "great blue cold," or death, reigns over everything, and that surrendering to this cause brings no remorse. The singer implies that only in death can we find true peace, and look back to see that heaven lies behind us.
The imagery in the lyrics is striking, using powerful metaphors to convey the severity of the situation. The "great blue cold" is a reference to both the sea, which is a force that can overwhelm us all, and to the inevitability of death, which is cold and relentless. The lines "every bruised, battered heart, and every slack, weary limb knuckles down" give a sense of resignation to the power of the sea and the approaching end of life. The song ends on a bleak note, with the repetition of the phrase "for the great blue cold now reigns," emphasizing the ultimate and inescapable nature of death.
Overall, Orosirian is a haunting song that explores deep existential questions about life, death, and our relationship with the natural world.
Line by Line Meaning
For the great blue cold now reigns
The cold, blue ocean now dominates and controls all aspects of our lives.
Adamantly taking hold of every bruised, battered heart
The ocean has a powerful grip on those who are wounded and beaten down.
And every slack, weary limb knuckles down
Even those who are tired and weak must now submit to the ocean's power.
For we shall bend to the cause: the open sea awaits us all
We must all accept our fate and surrender to the ocean, which is our ultimate destination.
Surrender breeds no remorse
There is no regret or second guessing when surrendering to the ocean's immense power.
We suffered through the ordeal
The journey to the ocean is full of hardship and pain.
They came to get me in my dreams
The ocean's call is so strong that it invades one's dreams and thoughts.
To take me down to the ocean
The ocean is the ultimate destination and the only path forward.
Only in death shall we be sage
We will only find wisdom and peace in death, when we finally reach the ocean.
And see that heaven lies behind
The ocean is the gateway to paradise and ultimate peace.
And we shall quake, reading those words on this book's final page: for the great blue cold now reigns
Even in the final moments of our lives, we will tremble at the power and dominance of the ocean.
Certain and endless, it seemed
The ocean's power seems infinite and unending.
But every petty grain of sand
Despite the ocean's immensity, even small things like grains of sand can resist its power.
And every bone will be washed out to the sea
Eventually, all things - including our physical bodies - will be consumed by the ocean.
Numbness unfurls in each and every brain
The ocean's power has a dulling effect on our minds, reducing us to mere automatons.
The coast now is clear
There is no escape from the ocean's power - the only path forward is to succumb to it.
The air is thin
As we near the ocean, everything becomes more difficult and the end seems inevitable.
And as your own plot unfolds
As our individual stories play out, we must confront the reality of the ocean's power and our own mortality.
It gets more difficult to bribe the magistrates of your own psyche
As we near the end, even the tricks of our own minds can no longer shield us from the truth of the ocean's power.
What will you say when all the lights go dim and the cup of disappointment is full to the brim? For the great blue cold now reigns
As we face our final moments, there is no escape from the cold, blue ocean and the disappointment and regret that come with it.
When every ocean has dessicated
Even the mightiest of oceans will eventually evaporate and disappear.
And we shall quake, reading those words
Even in the face of the most catastrophic events, we will still tremble at the power of the ocean.
On this book's last page: for the great blue cold now...
Even in the final moments of our individual stories, the ocean's power remains the dominant force.
For the great blue cold now...
The ocean's power is all-consuming and inescapable.
For the great blue cold now... reigns!
The ocean now reigns supreme, and we must all submit to its power.
Contributed by David H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.