Saturday: The Ocean - The Quiet Observer

     Add another name to the list of bands I wish would come out with a new record already. This time around, it's German music collective The Ocean., whose most recent LP Pelagial I named one of my ten favourite albums of 2013. So, follow-up time guys?

     To be fair to Robin Staps and Company, it's not like The Ocean have been resting on their laurels for the past two years. Touring globally is both time- and energy-consuming, and yet The Ocean still found time to record a split with Japanese band Mono. Sure, the Transcendental EP only contains a single song from each band, making it a far cry from the new Ocean LP I'm jonesing for, but what a doozy of a song!

     "The Quiet Observer" is nearly thirteen minutes of grand post-metal that starts with piano, strings, and subdued drums before gradually building up a head of the kind of heavy, proggy steam fans of The Ocean have come to expect. There are flashes of The Ocean's last couple of albums here, but for a big fan of Pelagial like myself, the running time of "The Quiet Observer" sees a similar musical journey play out; you might not find yourself descending into the depths of the ocean per se, but you will find that you've arrived somewhere very different from where you started. Clear your schedule and have a listen (or two) -- I guarantee you'll be glad you did.

The Ocean - Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams

     I don't usually directly recommend you go visit another music blog (although I try to give credit when it's due in terms of where I get ideas/material/whatever from) but you really should go over to Metalsucks and check out the piece written by The Ocean's Robin Staps about the ongoing stink surrounding tech death band Rings of Saturn and their apparent inability to play their songs without the aid of various technological enhancements.

     Regardless of which side of this debate you fall on, or whether or not you're a fan of either Rings of Saturn or the streets ahead work of The Ocean, it's a good read and a very eloquent existential discussion of what makes metal and where the fine line is drawn between skilled artist and talentless charlatan.

     But what does any of that have to do with your Song of the Day this evening? Simple! You should put on The Ocean's "Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams" (from this year's phenomenal Pelagial) whilst you read, and marvel at what a band can do when their definition of "good" extends beyond mere speed and technicality. It's a short-but-sweet number that'll make you glad you did.