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.
The Grand Inquisitor II: Roots & Locusts
The Ocean Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That are not of this world.
A world with God would be
Even more disturbing than a universe without Him.
For if He tolerates atrocities,
If he condones such cruelty,
Who would want to worship such a maker anyway?
In a dark room under the roof.
They broke her will with the cane --
She'll remember everything.
You are trying to save me,
But, perhaps, I am not lost.
It is not your love that I do not accept;
It's this world of God's, created by God, that I cannot agree to accept.
I've dragged myself onto the ocean,
And stared all night into the sky.
The only lives I saw were far below me:
Black waters, full of life.
I, too, lived on roots and locusts.
I, too, have been in the wilderness.
I, too, was striving
To stand among the elect,
Among the strong and powerful.
You are trying to save me,
But, perhaps, I am not lost.
It is not your love that I do not accept;
It's this world of God's, created by God, that I cannot agree to accept.
I've dragged myself onto the ocean,
And stared all night into the sky.
The only lives I saw were far below me:
Black waters, full of life.
I, too, lived on roots and locusts.
I, too, lived on roots and locusts.
I, too, lived on roots and locusts.
I, too, prized the freedom with which Thou hast blessed us;
But, I woke up.
And, would not serve madness.
And, would not serve madness.
And, would not...
The kiss glows deep in his heart.
But, the old man adheres to his idea. (x6)
It is not for us to resolve things
That are not of this world.
I, too, lived on roots and locusts.
I, too, lived on roots and locusts.
I, too, lived on roots and locusts.
I, too --
The Grand Inquisitor II: Roots & Locusts is a thought-provoking and introspective song by The Ocean. The song's lyrics delve into the idea of whether a world with God would be more disturbing than a universe without Him. The lyrics suggest that God tolerates atrocities and cruelty, and as a result, people may question why they would want to worship such a maker. The singer then speaks about being locked up for thirty days in a dark room under the roof and having their will broken by the cane, and despite someone trying to save him, he cannot accept this world of God's.
The song is an exploration of one's beliefs and how they change over time. The singer speaks of living on roots and locusts and striving to stand among the elect, among the strong and powerful. However, the singer realizes that they cannot serve madness and questions the idea of God's existence. Throughout the song, the singer expresses a sense of disillusionment with the world and how it functions. The song ends with the repetition of the line "I, too, lived on roots and locusts," emphasizing that despite everything, the singer has found a way to survive.
Line by Line Meaning
It is not for us to resolve things
As humans, there are some things beyond our control and understanding
That are not of this world.
Things that go beyond our earthly existence
A world with God would be
If a God exists, it would create more confusion than clarity
Even more disturbing than a universe without Him.
Because of the atrocities and cruelties allowed by God, who would want to worship such a being?
For if He tolerates atrocities,
If God sits by and allows evil deeds to happen without intervening
If he condones such cruelty,
If God accepts or approves of violent and oppressive actions committed by people
Who would want to worship such a maker anyway?
This questions why people would choose to serve a God who allows or promotes violence and cruelty.
They locked her up for thirty days
A woman was imprisoned for a month without light, heat or food
In a dark room under the roof.
She was kept in an attic with no sunlight
They broke her will with the cane --
She was beaten with a cane until she was defeated
She'll remember everything.
She will keep the memory of the abuse forever
You are trying to save me,
A person is trying to help another
But, perhaps, I am not lost.
The person being helped thinks they are not actually in need of help
It is not your love that I do not accept;
I don't reject your love as much as I reject God's world
It's this world of God's, created by God, that I cannot agree to accept.
I refuse to accept the reality constructed by an omnipotent deity who allows so much suffering.
I've dragged myself onto the ocean,
A person moves themselves to the ocean
And stared all night into the sky.
They look up all night
The only lives I saw were far below me:
The only things visible were the living creatures in the ocean
Black waters, full of life.
The black water was filled with many things living and active.
I, too, lived on roots and locusts.
The artist once survived on starvation rations
I, too, have been in the wilderness.
The artist has spent time in remote and desolate areas
I, too, was striving
The artist was hoping or struggling to reach their goals
To stand among the elect,
The singer wanted to be seen as one of the chosen ones
Among the strong and powerful.
The artist wanted to be among those who hold the most influence
And, would not serve madness.
The singer refused to follow a path of insanity and chaos
The kiss glows deep in his heart.
A kiss creates a strong feeling inside someone's heart
But, the old man adheres to his idea. (x6)
Despite the kiss, the old man still sticks to his beliefs and values.
And, would not...
The artist still seeks to avoid the calls of madness.
It is not for us to resolve things
Just like before, as humans, there are things that we cannot solve and understand
That are not of this world.
Things that go beyond our earthly existence
I, too, lived on roots and locusts.
The singer emphasizes again that they have lived in extreme survival situations and suffered greatly
Contributed by John V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
n00se
It is not for us to resolve things that are not of this world
A world with God would be even more disturbing than a universe without Him for if He tolerates atrocities, if he condones such cruelty, who would want to worship such a maker anyway?
They locked her up for thirty days
In a dark room under the roof
They broke her will with the cane --
She'll remember everything
You are trying to save me
But, perhaps, I am not lost
It is not your love that I do not accept;
It's this world of God's, created by God,
That I cannot agree to accept
I've dragged myself onto the ocean
And stared all night into the sky
The only lives I saw were far below me:
Black waters, full of life
I, too, lived on roots and locusts
I, too, have been in the wilderness
I, too, was striving to stand among the elect
Among the strong and powerful
You are trying to save me
But, perhaps, I am not lost
It is not your love that I do not accept;
It's this world of God's, created by God,
That I cannot agree to accept
I've dragged myself onto the ocean
And stared all night into the sky
The only lives I saw were far below me:
Black waters, full of life
I, too, lived on roots and locusts
I, too, lived on roots and locusts
I, too, lived on roots and locusts
I, too, prized the freedom with which Thou hast blessed us;
But, I woke up
And, would not serve madness
And, would not serve madness
And, would not...
The kiss glows deep in his heart
[2x:]
But, the old man adheres to his idea.
But, the old man adheres to his idea.
But, the old man adheres to his idea.
It is not for us to resolve things
That are not of this world
I, too, lived on roots and locusts
I, too, lived on roots and locusts
I, too, lived on roots and locusts
I, too
TEAM ATTACK
ive always liked this band, but i never love them until i read the lyrics, such subtle beauty. fucking incredible.
Jon Pienkowski
One of the most underrated bands in metal! ❤️
Sasaki Harada
They're extremely amazing ! I can feel the energy running through my body every time i listen their music !
lilinux
this song never gets old :)
peeps9
The entire genre of post metal if you want stuff like The Ocean. Sit in a dark room and listen to Through Silver in Blood by Neurosis. Panopticon by Isis could also be a fun starting point.
Sergio Llinares
i love how this song mixes post metal, sludge metal, post harcore and mathcore on only one fuckin' brutal song.
Bora
One of the best band in modern metal music!
Harry Smith
They do both have a groove and progressive aspect, but I dont see any similarity in riffs or vocals. But a tour between the two would be unmissable
DarthSivius
such an awesome song!
gamefreak249
Man these guys rock!