Tell me just how clean have we become?
Apparently no longer a collective, The Ocean returns to narrow their scope from an eon to an epoch. Holocene follows up the well-received Phanerozoic with a “a gear shift towards the electronic world”. Whether this can scratch the geological itch is surely on everyone’s mind, and opener “Preboreal” provides a confident answer:
No grasp on reality,
Attention shaping identities,
We’ve lost our capacities,
To construct something tangible.
Electronic pings give way to a melancholic lead and vocalists Loïc Rossetti‘s semi-monotone rasp. Immediately belying any hope in humanity, with lamentations like “The quality of life is being impoverished.” Anthropocene may have wound up on the cutting room floor, but could fit well as the title. The synthesized elements help create a cold, claustrophobic feeling both here and on next track “Boreal”. The sludgier side of their sound makes an appearance there, but overall Holocene leans more towards post-rock at these early sections. The cross-section of genres proves the main draw, and they do accomplish that tastefully.
I divided the waters for you, not for nothing.
Not as a favor, not as a proof of sentiment.
Take it all as it seems,
Close your eyes and find ways to believe.
Next single “Sea of Reeds” continues the show similarly. The brass backing is a nice touch, and the crescendo-based arrangements work well in the album’s context. Things may feel a bit formulaic at this stage, but the formula does build some impressive moments, like the instrumental break at the track’s halfway point.
“Atlanatic” does an interesting job to break through any stagnation with the first 3 songs, focusing heavily on the vocals with little else for much of the first minutes before breaking into a shrieking riff, arguably the album’s most individually exciting. Admittedly, some of the longer songs do drag at times, but the album’s 52.5-minute runtime helps to ensure the album does not on the whole.
Undeniably, the album peaks with guest Karin Park, who’s vocals appear on “Unconformities“. The album would legitimately be more interesting with her taking the lead. The track’s pacing helps the lull that has formed by this point and its placement within the album staves off the malaise that might have formed. Rossetti turns it up in the second half, with the heaviest moment on the album behind the refrain “don’t turn on the bright lights”.
Face death, effacing death,
From our every day lives.
Tell me just how clean have we become?
How safe have we become?
Penultimate track “Parabiosis” slips back into crescendocore territory, for better or worse. The build is well arranged, while following a similar path to some of the earlier tracks. It comes to head more like a rolling hill than a proper mountaintop, which can apply to the finale, “Subatlantic”. With that being said, the latter does explore heavier ground and covers most of the bases the album has built upon thus far.
Ultimately, while Holocene takes too long to get where it wants to go at times, it still remains effective. Overall, the mood aligns well with the album’s themes, and The Ocean carved out new territory to get there. While it lacks some of the immediacy of Phanerozoic II, it’s well-polished enough to retain a hypnotic edge.
8/10
The Ocean – Holocene comes out this Friday, May 15 on Pelagic Records with pre-orders found here.