As a palaeontologist, I must say: THIS IS SUPERB!

Most probably, the best thing about The Ocean is their supreme ability to link their music with the idea behind it. How the hell do you think about the Cambrian period -of all things- and put it into a melody so perfect it makes someone who hasn't dedicated a thought to it since high school reminiscence it and inmerse herself on the idea so deep she starts glimpsing how it would have been? These dudes are making music about the Geological eras of the Earth and I am feeling them all and it's so tremendously weird and fulfilling at the same time I think I might be going insane. That's mad talent right there.

OOOOF. WHAT AN INTRO! Listening to this for the first time.

This band reignites the flame I have to study biology everyday. This band has such an amazing talent in bringing about the most grandiose feeling that is so perfectly paired with the feeling of passing time. Absolutely beautiful!

One of the best double albums of all time. All killer no filler bullshit.

This album helped me through a rough patch in my life. Thanks so much, The Ocean.

1. The Cambrian Explosion [Instrumental] 2. Cambrian II: Eternal Recurrence Fellow man Your whole life, like a sandglass Will always be reversed And will ever run out again A long minute will elapse We'll always be reversed Until all those conditions Out of which you were evolved Return in the wheel Of the cosmic process We'll always be reversed And then you will find every pain and pleasure Every friend and every enemy Every hope and every goddamn error Every blade of grass and every ray of light Once more And the whole fabric of things Which make up your life Will always be reversed This ring in which you are but a grain Will glitter afresh forever We'll always be reversed And in every one of these cycles There will be one hour where For the first time one man And then many Will perceive the mighty thought Of the eternal recurrence of all things And for mankind This is always the hour of noon And then you will find every pain and pleasure Every friend and every long-lost lover Every hope and every goddamn error Every blade of grass and every ray of light All over again Start over again 3. Ordovicium: The Glaciation Of Gondwana The cracks were visible in the beginning. Now we're staring deep down into the guts of the earth. We've been watching these two tectonic plates slowly drifting apart. And wen the first cracks appeared on the surfaces, we had surrendered our hopes to reality. Odds and ends adding up to a serious kick in the teeth of vanity. At this stage any will for solutions had bowed to the gallows. You showed your true colours only in my absence. Crawl away. Don't grind your teeth. Make believe you were never here. You piled up inside of you an extensive collection of small monuments to frustration and failure to communicate. And this was the tragic dilemma of our constellation: Not the difference between us but the lack of honest talks. You showed your true colours only in my absence. Crawl away. Don't grind your teeth. Make believe you were never here. I turned the tables on you after you had seized everything that was not nailed to floor, or locked away. And now you're waving the flag of justice and equity. The devil takes the hindmost. 4. Silurian: Age Of Sea Scorpions Dust. I see red. I know this state you're in. Time has come, once again. This is not our habitat. This is not our place to be. You and me, we took great pains to not get down too deep. Down into the raging stream of our subconsciousness. Shadows are passing by. Sometimes they're close to catching up. Sea scorpions prowl these waters. They are the apex predators. This time we won't surrender facing the unknown. Close your eyes, hold your breath. Tell me now, are you really sure you wanna walk this path once more. We know what's lurking at the end of the road. Blank out all painful reminders of past indignation. Another rough double reality day. I understand now how it feels to be trapped inside the lair of light. Reflections bouncing off the walls... To be losing any sense of time while every clear thought dissolves. Learn to embrace the the gift of ambiguity. It sets you free. We have said a few things now that we have never said before. And I don't know yet what that means. Maybe we will wake up tomorrow with gratitude and uncertainty that all the glaciers will retreat. Yield to warm and shallow seas. Or maybe not.. I am super fucked and all I really want is to sleep now. Exposed to my interpretations. Please cut me out of this equation. Release me. My conscience is as clean as the bluest sky after a storm. You were so proud of our achievements. We have said a few things now that we have never said before. And I don't know yet what that means. Maybe we will wake up tomorrow... 5. Devonian: Nascent Our dreams now soaring above the surface With horizons shifting slow in blue Rites of spring to chase the winter away I allow my very mind to pass on through Our fragments In dust reunited Took in the night to color my room Had birth in the palm of my hand But no one came to tell me This road was overgrown And so elusively kept Send me back to the evening Before our very first day Must find time for my words Before they go away I found my place among the others And realized the stars were all too far The song that remains unsung A chain around my neck Thrusting on my back This violent storm ahead Of time never spent Nascent Our fears are now soaring below the surface of conscience Our inner horizons shifting slowly out of scale 6. The Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse [Instrumental] 7. Permian: The Great Dying Eyes on the water between the continents, This is Laurasia, it smells so different, A strong breeze blows out here, The ocean is pitch black, Let's not seek shelter, I wanna freeze and smell your neck. Soon everyone of us will be dead, In the great scheme of things it makes no difference, It's all the same, But let's not get sentimental… Eyes on the water between the continents, This is Gondwana, it smells so different, A cold wind blows out here, The sea's already dead, Let's get in the water, let our bodies be the last. Feel the cold, Feel the night creep up to me, Let's stop and wait until we freeze together, And rest like this forever, Creep inside my bones where you have lied since the day that we were born, Since the day we were born. Sea level rise: we'll be among those 5%, We'll survive the Great Dying, there is no denying, You and me, the chosen few… because that's how we've got to know, And that's all we gotta know. I am not here but you can still write me, like in the beginning, You're no longer next to me, but this is how it's always been: you were a ghost before you became real, That's how we got to know, That's how we got to know. Now that are not here, now that we no longer talk, I can't stop to remember how you've been offended when you realized that I'd kill to relieve a load, Yes I'd kill to relieve a burden. Feel the cold creep inside, I am losing you to your fears, grown way out of scale, Yes it's true what they say: I don't love humanity, not a bit, But I do value empathy while retaliating iniquities. Sea level rise: it's the beginning of the Great Dying, Soon it will be over, Long time to recover: 30 million years, Yes I'd kill to relieve the load, Yes I'd kill to relieve a burden. I am not here but you can still write me, like in the beginning, You're no longer next to me, but this is how it's always been: you were a ghost before you became real, That's how we got to know, That's how we got to know. Contemplating, trouble making, even now… the air is getting hot and dry, Sticking to your skin and your open wounds, The sun burns us alive, That's how we got to know, That's how we got to know, That's how we got to know.

Perfection cannot be achieved by us mortals but 'The Ocean' is the closest you can get to it What an absolute juggernaut of an album

This album is the definition of epic, cinematic music. Every time I listen to it I'm whisked away to a cold, cruel, and unforgiving landscape, and I love every second of it.

This is absolutely beautiful. It shows the passion and deep interest those people have for this planet and it's history and the way they express it is so emotional and full of fascination, it's truly touching. Can't stop listening and thinking about how much our little system has gone though.

As a Geologist, is my duty to listen this album and the second part. Loved the concept too!!!

How is it possible for every song on this album to be so incredible

I have never heard of this band before. In love.

I'm a geologist and well...I love the concept ! Precambrian wins !

Love how the intro chords are the same as Precambrian's outro, Cryogenian. Just noticed this today while revisiting their older material.

The way they told the history of THE GREAT DYING is inspiring and educational! The songwriting and lyrics are so meticulous, BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR!

I’m addicted to that wonky melody in Silurian. Robin Staps is a master

I personally like this record as much as Pelagial easily, from an audio production perspective it's even more incredibly massive.

This album is something special from beginning to end. It is unfortunate that beautiful, moving music like this will never get the recognition or popularity it deserves, but those who get to experience something like this are blessed. I also learned a lot looking up wtf the titles and some of the lyrics are referring to lol

My nerdy self is jumping up and down (not actually, though, cause I'm at work. But almost). I've been hoping for a follow-up to Precambrian since that album came out (so quite a few years). Not that the other albums weren't good, but I'm a sucker for the history of earth, paleontology, and all that stuff :) PS. To anyone who wants to learn more about this topic, I highly recommend the channel PBS Eons ;)

Life will just have been a short episode... This music makes it worth it...

omg, that intro gave me goosebumps

Probably the first time in a long time that I listened to an album completely because I couldn't stop. Awesome!

Damn. Every album from this collective is Closer to perfection. A masterpiece once again.

01. The Cambrian Explosion 0:00 02. Cambrian II: Eternal Recurrence 1:54 03. Ordovicium: The Glaciation of Gondwana 9:46 04. Silurian: Age of Sea Scorpions 14:35 05. Devonian: Nascent 24:12 06. The Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse 35:17 07. Permian: The Great Dying 38:25

Ordovicium might be this band's greatest track yet.

permian is a perfect song holy fuck

I discovered the album in a music store. I was impressed by the artwork and bought it , eventhough I didn't knew them. At home I heard the first accords and got lost in the music. Best decision of my life and One of my favourit albums of the year, so far. Such a good sound and impressive song-structure.

Being fascinated by anything prehistoric this is truly the most perfect blend between concept and music. The ideal follow-up to Precambrian and concept-wise as brilliantly thought through as Pain of Salvation's "Be". Amazing.

1, 2, 5 and 7 are unbelievably brilliant pieces of music!

Thanks,,, Reminds me of my classical Influence!!!

So refreshing to hear great music again. Keep up the good work mr. Staps!

One of the greatest albums by one of the greatest bands. Very Excited for Part 2. Hopefully you guys do the fossil thing again!

неймовірний альбом! outstanding masterpiece!

thank you so much

Been so hyped for this release. So happy that it's finally here!!

Jonas fits so perfectly on Devonian/nascent. Album of the year.

Absolutely amazing work! Your best album yet.

The best I've heard in the last couple of years !

The ocean just amazed me once more.

I have just fallen in love!

Haven't listened to these guys in a year or so and was wondering what they were up to. Great to see a new album just dropped and its as great as all their others.

Devonian: Nascent and Permian: The Great Dying is SOOOOOOOOOO GOD DAMN GOOD!!! I love the instrumental; The Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse as well!!!

why is every album gold for this band

Paleontology and metal, who'd a thought it would be a symphony of the senses, but when you think deep down about Recurrence and the present situation of mankind, are we living in our own extinction period? Just food for thought.

Phanerozoic I & II are my favorite albums

They simply BLOW us right here at London. Right now! spectacular man!

Intelligence in metal only makes sense I geuss the eras is a subject worth taking to the next level. Bravo by Ocean and their producers and writers in this obvious gem of a record.

Fucking awesome! And I massively dig the prehistory lyrics and references throughout this album!

5 long years. I’ve been waiting for this 5 long years, struggling to find a substitute. Holy fuck, i’ve just started my first listen and im already have all my demands met. This is fucking amazing, i love you guys.

One of the rare records that live up to the hype. Bravo The Ocean! See you in 15 days!

Masterpiece..Waiting for part ll.. They had in seventies yes, pink floyd, king crimson, genesis.. now we have the ocean, beetween the buried and me, antimatter, haken.. not bad

Excellent album! I got the special edition CD / box :)

The masterpiece is finally out

This was alot of fun to listen to while playing Wreckfest. Fighting your way through traffic on a dirt road in a woodland map like a bat jamming to eternal recurrence. Every song on this album kicks ass.

When the rerelease of Precambrian comes around one day, I hope there's a bonus track called 'Ediacaran'.

THANK you.great.album

Great! the Ocean as always.

God Damn. Thank you!

Ordered at the day of release. Round and round it goes

"I don't love humanity Not a bit But I do value empathy While retaliating iniquities" Perfect lyrics for the ending.

These guys' right lobes are on extraterrestrial level.

Great Album! Greetings from Caracas - Venezuela.

Best album of the year by far

The ocean always careful before launching their albuns - Great album !!!

"I am super fucked and all I really want is to sleep now. Exposed to my interpretations. Please cut me out of this equation. Release me. My conscience is as clean as the bluest sky after a storm. You were so proud of our achievements. "

!!! How did I not know about this? They're my favorite band. As always, great start to finish

This album is amazing. I'm going to do something I haven't done in a long time; buy some mp3s.

Glorious.

The intro is amazing.

I was searching for some Haken songs and discoverd this juggernaut instead... It's been 5 minutes that i've finished this album and still, i'm loss for words to describe this...

Dude! Beautiful album.

Blown away by this album. Holy shit.

This is badass

Я ждал этого альбома 5 лет. Спасибо!

Yay!

The best thing in looooong time! years!

Damn, insane atmosphere

This is ART!

This is so fucking good!

Great album

This album is fantastic! Parts of "Devonian: Nascent" and "The Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse" remind me of Godbox-era Breach.

thank you

fantastic! and my gosh, the limited box...!!!!!

What a masterpiece...

Just perfect, nothing to add

Album of the year... By far.

Nice and sludgy. So far can't top Pelagial for me but still a very special album. What a great band.

As a Biologist, I found this scientifically accurate to what the Geological Eras could have been.

I saw these guys live a few years ago and they were amazing

What a Masterpiece

Devonian Nascent, simple perfection!

I quite like this album

Great album.

Well all of the singles you guys released were on repeat for me...I’m sure this knock us out!

IN THIS TIME, TECHNICAL, RECALLING THE ORIGINAL STRUCTURE MAKES YOU BACK TO WHAT WE ARE. BEST EP FOR THIS BAND, BY ME.

I got this Thank you

One of the best Prog albums of the decade tbh

wow, what a cool band

This album helped me through a difficult time when I lived on the super continent "Pangaea".