THE OCEAN

INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST ROBIN STAPS BY NICHOLAS SENIOR

One of the most noteworthy aspects of The Ocean’s impressive career is how their music so majestically mirrors the themes presented within each album. It would be something if this German band were traditional, but with albums centered on geological eons, a scientific critique of Christianity, and a descent into the bottom of the ocean, each album treads new thematic and sonic territory. Their upcoming eighth output, Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic|Cenozoic, out now via Metal Blade Records, manages to both outdo and reference everything before it. temporary way is something that band when I started it 20 years ago Some of that has been the eternal search for the perfect partners for this particular collective. For this iteration of The Ocean, Staps feels like the pieces are perfectly in place:

“There's always been a quest of finding the right people that share this vision, and now it seems like I've really found them. That's also the reason why they're much more involved in this new record than anyone ever was in the past. There are three tracks that [drummer] Paul [Seidel] wrote on this record, and I’m no longer writing all the basslines myself. I just leave that up to Mathias [Hagerstrand].”

The Ocean take patterns seriously, “It's been a long journey to get to this as so much of Phanerozoic II feels stage now,” he continues. “But I think like a reimagining of the band’s with this record, I'm happier than early albums with all the experience with any previous Ocean record, or and wisdom that decades brings let's say with these two records, Phawith it. It’s like a rebirth for the band nerozoic I and II. They both cover in a way. Guitarist and main song- entirely different territories, and it writer Robin Staps notes that this was meant to be like that from the was very intentional and related to beginning. But, as a whole, both of the album’s themes. them really represent where this “That's eternal recurrence right said, where I've always seen it when I there,” Staps says. “I mean, going started it 20 years ago. And that feels back to something from the past, good. That feels like coming home but trying to make it work in a con- and closing the cycle, so to speak.” has been a challenge, of course, Everything about this album—well, always ever since the inception of both albums in this Phanerozoic sethe band. But now I feel like we're ries—revolves around one of Friedreally at the stage where anything is rich Nietzsche's famous ideas (no not possible. The vision that I had of this that one). band stands right now, and like I was there, but it was rather blurry. “The idea of eternal recurrence is the Now it’s becoming clear where it’s thread that goes through both realways been headed. With this line- cords, actually,” Staps states. “It's the up that we have now, everything is idea that everything happens over just falling into place.” and over again in infinite time and space. It's a cyclical concept of time. And you can apply that to your own personal life and any experiences that you have that recur.”

He elaborates: “There are parts of the album of that reappear throughout. It’s all cyclical. There are always references to something we've done before, and actually also some songs have riffs or lyrics that were on previous records, but I don't think many people have noticed that. The idea to do that musically also unfolded and developed while we were already quite late into the process of making this record. Otherwise, we could have probably done even more with that [laughs]. But, I think it worked out pretty nice.” �� �� ��