THE OCEAN TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM, SOLARIS
Photo Credit: Jovi Zhang
Berlin atmospheric post metal visionaries The Ocean will release their twelfth studio album, Solaris, on September 25 via Pelagic Records.
Solaris follows 2023's Holocene and marks the beginning of a new chapter for the band, introducing an expanded international lineup while returning to the cinematic, crushing sound that made albums like Pelagial and Phanerozoic modern progressive metal landmarks.
Following from Light Pollution, the band have unveiled the album's second single, "Belligerence."
One of the heaviest songs on the record, Belligerence examines the culture of conflict, questioning how anger, power and relentless ambition shape political leaders, explorers and even artists themselves.
Robin Staps explains: "Belligerence is a song about the culture of arguing and about the destructive force of contained anger and belligerence as a trait of character, often transfigured as an attribute of reason and a critical mind.”
The Ocean recently played their first show ever with the new lineup in Morocco, and recorded a live in studio session at Studio Hiba in Casablanca the day after the show.
The themes of Solaris pick up where Holocene left off. With Earth rendered increasingly uninhabitable, humanity embarks on a desperate voyage into space aboard a celestial rescue vessel. Drawing inspiration from Andrei Tarkovsky's classic 1972 film Solaris, alongside the journals of explorers including Magellan, Vasco da Gama and Ernest Shackleton's contemporaries, the album examines humanity's obsession with discovery, progress and power, asking whether exploration is driven by curiosity or conquest.
Solaris also marks a significant evolution for The Ocean themselves. Following major lineup changes after the Holocene touring cycle, founding guitarist Robin Staps has assembled a revitalised collective featuring new vocalists Enrico Tiberi and Lane Shi alongside new guitarists Emmanuel Jessua and Marco Gennaro. The refreshed lineup combines familiar sonic weight with new textures and dynamics while retaining the unmistakable identity that has defined The Ocean for more than two decades.
The album was recorded at Berlin's legendary Hansa Studios and mixed by Jens Bogren, whose previous work with The Ocean includes Pelagial and both Phanerozoic albums. Guest appearances include Tangerine Dream's Thorsten Quaeschning, Playgrounded's Orestis Zafiriou and Spurv trombonist Simen Eifring.
SOLARIS TRACK LISTING
52°30'11" N, 13°26’12“ E
Departure Song
Light Pollution
Simulacra
Belligerence
Ultima Esperanza
Milk Of My Dreams
51°28'30" S, 73°6'11” W
Solaris will be released on September 25 via Pelagic Records.
Pre-orders are available now:
https://orcd.co/theocean-solaris
Merch, Bundles and Boxsets available here
wildthingmusic.com/collections/the-ocean
