Nocturnal Egg (Jordan)
Le diptyque Phanerozoic retraçait les cinq grandes extinctions de masse qui ont frappé la Terre pendant la Préhistoire et The Ocean nous y invitait à relativiser notre complexe de supériorité. Ironie de l'histoire : après la sortie du second chapitre, l'humanité apportait avec la COVID-19 son extinction potentielle sur un plateau. Le concert Phanerozoic, sorti dans ce contexte, prend donc une saveur d'autant plus particulière. En tout cas, même si le public est absent, The Ocean donne tout !
Favorite track: Jurassic | Cretaceous (Live at Roadburn Redux).
Tiubuk
Le metal progressif de The Ocean est un diamant longuement poli. Ici, le groupe transcende la notion de concert en proposant la synthèse retravaillée de deux albums précédents liés thématiquement. Techniquement impressionnant, musicalement fascinant, puissant et varié, enveloppé dans une préhistoire aussi mystique que scientifique, c'est un disque complet, ni studio, ni scène.
Michi
It is a live recording without audience. Musical perfection and improvisational creativity on a very high level. The two parts recorded in two different locations submitts different intensities. Phanerozoic I and II clearly belongs together and should enjoyed in its entirety. I like the Live album even more than the seperate studio recordings.
Favorite track: The Cambrian Explosion (Live in Bremen).
Wez Barber
Incredible version of two awesome albums. SO so good! Can’t stop listening (again)
Favorite track: Permian: The Great Dying (Live in Bremen).
David Fischer
There is nothing more to add to the fact that the songwriting of The Ocean is simply impeccable; at this point I am convinced that they just can do no wrong. Although seeing them perform live before, I am at a loss of words considering the sheer perfection of this live album. Even though Omikron, Delta and whatnot are presumably turning this era to shit, it is a blessing to exist in the same timeline as The Ocean. Do not ignore this record, or you may be arrested for cultural neandertalism.
Favorite track: Devonian: Nascent (Live in Bremen).
micleih
Musical and vocal perfection from beginning to end. Every time I listen to it I discover new layers. Holocene is such a great closing track with that powerful bassline and beautiful vocals!
Favorite track: Holocene (Live at Roadburn Redux).
The Berliners present an unusual live album that is a testimony of strange times: their Phanerozoic concept album performed live in its entirety at a time when no shows were happening anywhere in the world. 3 LPs / 2 CDs, DVD and access to HD video download and streaming.
On September 25, 2020, in the middle of the global pandemic, THE OCEAN released their 9th studio album Phanerozoic II, the concluding episode of a conceptual trilogy that began with Precambrian 13 years before – and even without any touring to support the new album release, Phanerozoic II entered the official German album charts at #9.
With no end of lockdowns in sight, the band decided to thank their fans for the support with 2 streaming concerts, performing both Phanerozoic albums in their entirety.
Phanerozoic Live is a live album like no other – it is a live album that was recorded in a cultural vacuum, a bizarre time that we will remember for the rest of our lives: a time when the world as we knew it suddenly stopped spinning. It is a live album that does without all the qualities that we usually appreciate about a live album: without the sounds of a cheering, exited crowd. But it is the very absence of this, it is the eery silence between the songs that reminds us of what we miss most, and that gives these recordings a rare intensity and power.
36 choice cuts - one from each 2015 LP, plus music from new signings on the mighty and 25-years-strong Relapse label. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 4, 2015