Media Meditation #1: Birth of the Earth

The Ocean
Precambrian (2007)

Disc One:
1. Hadean (3:48)
2. Eoarchean (4:46)
3. Paleoarchean (2:46)
4. Mesoarchean (5:20)
5. Noachian (5:24)

Disc Two:
1. Siderian (1:57)
2. Rhyacian (10:57)
3. Orosirian (6:29)
4. Statherian (5:58)
5. Calymmian (8:19)
6. Ectasian (8:58)
7. Stenian (8:20)
8. Tonian (7:18)
9. Cryogenian (3:32)

Precambrian is sludge metal band The Ocean’s third full length album, released in 2007 as a double disc set. Between the smaller first disc and the second, it clocks in at an hour and twenty three minutes, and is a concept album about the earth’s Precambrian era. This is clear enough from the song titles, which are all stages in that period. A lofty goal, to say the least, but the music certainly delivers.

The first disc is a short, frenzied affair in the loud and rhythmic vein of Meshuggah or Gojira. The dense mix makes it difficult to hear anything beyond the vocals, drums, and guitar, but all of these are crystal clear. The keyboards and a few sparse lead guitar lines are usually buried, but help create a wall of sound. These first five songs are much more direct than the rest of the album, and eschew most of the additional musicians that appear in the second disc. Despite this, there are eleven musicians credited on it! Six of them only provide vocals for a few tracks, which seems like it would make the vocals extremely diverse if most of them didn’t resort to a similar shouting or screaming. All in all, this first chunk is pretty solid.

Immediately upon starting the second disc, it’s clear that the next hour is going to be very different. "Siderian" is a quick instrumental that sets the mood with a slow clean guitar riff and some tribal drumming, with a saxophone solo in the background. Most of the songs on the second disc start in this fashion, either with clean guitar or piano. The keyboards and samples are more apparent in most of the songs, and take center stage in some tracks, like the opening of Stenian. A number of other musicians are featured playing unusual instruments (at least for metal), like the violin or glockenspiel. The piano in particular shows up in five tracks very prominently, and a viola appears in every track besides the first. Once again there are a number of guest vocalists, only this time there is much more variety in their delivery. The music is, astonishingly, all written by the musician Robin Staps, apart from some of the lyrics here and there which are sections of poetry or prose from other authors. Included on the first disc are poems from Charles Baudelaire, Comte de Lautremont, and on the second disc there’s sections from the writing of Friedrich Nietzsche, a poem by Georg Trakl, and samples of Kevin Spacey from his role in The Life of David Gale.

The second disc is far stronger than the first, and truly sends you on a journey. The music develops beautifully through each of the long songs, and through the album as a whole. "Rhyacian", for example, begins with the clean guitar riff from the intro track, and soon adds in contrasting clean and shouted vocals. The music builds up, adding a piano, glockenspiel, and additional guitar lines, before cresting briefly at two minutes and then returning to the busy counterpoint between instruments. Violin, viola, and cello all make an appearance as well, adding to the shifting textures of the song. Halfway through, a short guitar solo brings the song to a climax, exploding in a wall of thick, heavy riffing and crashing drums. Just as quickly as it begins, it drops down to just drums and a synth effect that sounds identical to a Theremin. Shouted vocals contrast against the quiet background, and just before the end of the song it reaches a second climax, with a reprise of the pummeling passage from the middle. The very end of the song breaks from the all the business of the previous ten minutes with a few simple low piano chords, and a Theremin-sounding melody. The variety and complexity here is matched in each of the following songs, and the atmosphere it generates is tremendous and mournful. It feels like the history of the earth, mirrored by the history of mankind. The philosophical lyrics seem to support this, if only as a metaphor. The lyrics themselves are dense with melancholy and sadness, which goes well with the music. This is not an uplifting album by any means, but it is not one I’d ever miss.