Precambrian (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Precambrian
Type = studio
Artist = The Ocean


Released = Start date|2007|11|5
Recorded = Oceanland, Berlin, between April and July 2007, by Robin Staps.
Genre = Post-metal, sludge metal
Length = 83:43
Label = Metal Blade
Producer = Jonas Olsson, Robin Staps
Reviews = *About.com rating|4|5 [http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/fr/oceanprecambria.htm link]
*Allmusic rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3xftxzqhldae link]
*"Decibel Magazine" rating|9|10 [http://www.decibelmagazine.com/reviews/feb2008/theocean.aspx link]
*Metal Review rating|5.5|6 [http://www.metalreview.com/4167/The-Ocean-Precambrian.aspx link]
*Metal Storm rating|9.5|10 [http://www.metalstorm.ee/pub/review.php?review_id=5060 link]
*Pitchfork Media rating|8.3|10 [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/48924-precambrian link]
*Rockmidgets.com rating|5|5 [http://www.rockmidgets.com/releases.php?p=7&page=3&id=2390 link]
*Terrorizer rating-10|9
Last album = "Aeolian"
(2005)
This album = "Precambrian"
(2007)
Next album =

"Precambrian" is the fifth studio album by the German post-metal band The Ocean Collective, released on November 5, 2007 through Metal Blade Records.The album has the participation of several musicians, including Caleb Scofield (Cave In, Zozobra, Old Man Gloom), Nate Newton (Converge, Doomriders), Dwid Hellion (Integrity), Tomas Hallbom (Breach), Erik Kalsbeek (Textures) and musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Development

The main concept of the album is based around the times of Precambrian, an early part of the formation of Earth. Hadean/Archaean (disc one) is heavy and raw just like their previous album Aeolian while Proterozoic (disc two) is more post-metal-influenced with the inclusion of symphonic and electronic elements like their first album Fluxion.

The production of the album lasted more than six months after their tour in Europe in late 2006. All the drum tracks done by Torge Liessmann and most of the guitar tracks were recorded in Finland. Some of the guitar tracks and all of the vocals, bass guitar, percussion, samples, and various instruments played by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra were recorded in The Ocean's own Oceanland Studio in Berlin, Germany. Additional vocals were recorded in Sweden, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Los Angeles, California and Seattle, Washington in the United States. It was mixed by Andrew Schneider in New York City. Originally the album's mastering dissatisfied Robin Staps so it was remastered in Finland. The artwork was done by Martin Kvamme, who has done artwork for various Mike Patton projects like Fantômas and Tomahawk. The release in both the United States and Europe differed; the U.S. version is in a two disc crystal case while the European version is in a complex digipak case with additional artwork.

Jonas Renkse from Katatonia and Bloodbath was planned to be on the album but due to Katatonia's touring schedule during the production, The Ocean was not able to approach him on time. The Ocean wanted to have Dave Verellen of Botch to participate but he never responded back during production. [cite web |url=http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showinterview.php?id=1985&lang=en |title=An interview with The Ocean for Lords of Metal monthly metal e-zine, published in issue 77: January 2008 |accessdate=2008-06-27 |publisher=Lords of Metal |quote= ]

Track listing

All songs and lyrics were written by Robin Staps, except where noted. All non-instrumental songs include sub-titles that corresponds to the lyrics provided, not to the main concept.

Disc one

Hadean/Archaean

I. Hadean

# "Hadean: The Long March of the Yes-Men" (Ray J. Shaw, Robin Staps) – 3:48

II. Archaean

2. "Eoarchaean: The Great Void" (Micheal Pilat, Staps) – 4:45
3. "Paleoarchaean: Man & the Sea " (Charles Baudelaire, Staps) – 2:46
4. "Mesoarchaean: Legions of Winged Octopi" (Comte de Lautréamont, Staps) – 5:20
5. "Neoarchaean: To Burn the Duck of Doubt" (Lautréamont, Staps) – 5:24

Disc two

Proterozoic

III. Palaeoproterozoic

# "Siderian" [Instrumental] (Staps, Tomas Svensson) – 1:56
# "Rhyacian: Untimely Meditations" (Friedrich Nietzsche, Lautréamont, Staps) – 10:57
# "Orosirian: For the Great Blue Cold Now Reigns" – 6:29
# "Statherian" [Instrumental] (Kevin Spacey, Staps) – 5:57

IV. Mesoproterozoic

5. "Calymmian: Lake Disappointment" – 8:18
6. "Ectasian: De Profundis" (Georg Trakl, Staps) – 8:58
7. "Stenian: Mount Sorrow" – 8:19

V. Neoproterozoic

8. "Tonian: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" – 7:18
9. "Cryogenian" [Instrumental] – 3:32

Personnel

Hadean/Archaean

* Torge Liessmann – drums, percussion (all tracks)
* Matt Beels – guitar (all tracks)
* Robin Staps – guitar, percussion (all tracks)
* Walid Farruque – guitar (track 2)
* Micheal Pilat – bass (all tracks), vocals (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5)
* Nico Webers – vocals (tracks 1, 2, 3)
* Nate Newton – vocals (track 3)
* Eric Kalsbeek – vocals (track 4)
* Meta – vocals (tracks 1, 5)
* Rene Nocon – vocals (track 3)
* Jason Emry – vocals (track 3)

Proterozoic

* Torge Liessmann – drums, percussion (all tracks)
* Matt Beels – guitar (all tracks), vocals (tracks 2, 6, 7)
* Robin Staps – guitar (all tracks)
* Micheal Pilat – bass (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7), vocals (tracks 2, 3, 6, 8)
* Hannes Huefken – bass (tracks 4 and 8)
* Jonathan Heine – bass (track 6)
* Stefan Heinemeyer – cello (tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9)
* Karina Suslov – viola (tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
* Christoph Von Der Nahmer – violin (tracks 2, 3, 4, 8)
* Katharina Sellheim – piano (tracks 2, 6, 7, 8, 9)
* John Gürtler – saxophone (track 1)
* Daniel Eichholz – glockenspiel (tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 7)
* Jonas Olsson – tambourine (tracks 5, 7, 8)
* Tomas Svensson – additional samples (track 1)
* Nico Webers – vocals (tracks 2, 5, 8)
* Meta – vocals (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8)
* Tomas Halbom – vocals (track 7)
* Rene Nocon – vocals (tracks 3, 7, 8)
* Nate Newton – vocals (track 8)
* Dwid Hellion – vocals (track 6)
* Jan Oberg – vocals (track 6)
* Caleb Scofield – vocals (track 3)
* Kevin Spacey – passage (track 4, audio from "The Life of David Gale")

ee also

* Precambrian

References

External links

* [http://www.metalblade.com/english/artists/theocean/releases.php Precambrian] at Metal Blade Records
* [http://www.metalblade.de/index.php?mod=releases&page=detail&id=614 Precambrian] at Metal Blade Europe