The Ocean have issued an audio stream of a new track titled “Devonian: Nascent” featuring a guest spot by Katatonia vocalist Jonas Renkse. Guitarist/programmer Robin Staps said of it:
“We sent Jonas the track, and what we got back as a ‘demo’ was almost identical with what ended up as the final version on the record. Jonas has a perfect and intuitive understanding of our music, there was no need to explain anything. He came up with his own vocal parts and lyrics, and everything just fit perfectly from the start.
Katatonia’s The Great Cold Distance was an important album for me and for The Ocean. It was one of the first albums where heavy, low-tuned guitars and clean vocals next to one another were actually working out for me, personally. It was an album that made me reconsider my opinion about clean vocals in metal, and that forged my own desire to look for a vocalist for The Ocean who could also deliver cleans.”
Renkse also issued a statement of the song:
“Robin approached me for a guest spot already in 2005, and I really wanted to be part, but at that time we were in the studio ourselves recording The Great Cold Distance, so I felt I had too much on my mind. We have met after that and talked a little about doing something and now it finally happened.
I was very intrigued by the song when I got the demo sent to me and I am very happy with the final result. ‘Devonian: Nascent’ became a mammoth track without ever losing its initial melancholy.”
The song is taken off the outfit’s upcoming record Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic, which is due in stores November 2nd via Metal Blade Records. Head over to MetalBlade.com/TheOcean for pre-order options. It is the first part of a double album the band have in the works, with the second half due in 2020. Further details on that effort are pending.
Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic track listing:
1. “The Cambrian Explosion”
2. “Cambrian II: Eternal Recurrence”
3. “Ordovicium: The Glaciation Of Gondwana”
4. “Silurian: Age Of Sea Scorpions”
5. “Devonian: Nascent”
6. “The Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse”
7. “Permian: The Great Dying”
[via Heavy Consequence]