Precambrian (album)

Precambrian
Studio album by The Ocean
Released	5 November 2007
Recorded	Oceanland, Berlin, between April and July 2007
Genre	Post-metal, sludge metal, progressive metal
Length	83:43
Label	Metal Blade
Producer	Jonas Olsson, Robin Staps
The Ocean chronology
Aeolian (2005) Precambrian (2007) Heliocentric (2010)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[1]
Allmusic	[2]
Decibel	(9/10)[3]
Pitchfork Media	(8.3/10)[4]
Revolver	[5]

Precambrian is the third studio album by the German metal band The Ocean, released on November 5, 2007 through Metal Blade Records. It features several guest 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 Precambrian, an early period in 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 at Studio57, near Kokkola, Finland, where producer Jonas Olsson had also recorded and produced Callisto´s album Noir. 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. The album's mastering was originally done by Nick Zampiello, but dissatisfied Robin Staps, and it was therefore 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 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 were 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.^[6]

Track listing

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

Disc one

Hadean/Archaean

I. Hadean

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

Total: 3:48

II. Archaean

2. "Eoarchaean (The Great Void)" (Micheal Pilat, Staps) – 4:45
3. "Palaeoarchaean (Man and 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

Total: 18:16

Disc two

Proterozoic

III. Paleoproterozoic

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

Total: 25:20

IV. Mesoproterozoic

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

Total: 25:36

V. Neoproterozoic

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

Total: 10:48

Personnel

Hadean/Archaean

• Torge Ließmann – drums, percussion (all tracks)
• Robin Staps – guitar, percussion (all tracks)
• Matt Beels – guitar (all tracks)
• Mike Pilat – bass (all tracks), vocals (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5)
• Nico Webers – vocals (tracks 1, 2, 3)
• Meta – vocals (tracks 1, 5)
• Jason Emry – guest vocals (track 3)
• Eric Kalsbeek – guest vocals (track 4)
• Nate Newton – guest vocals (track 3)
• René Noçon – guest vocals (track 3)
• Walid Farruque – guest guitar (track 2)

Proterozoic

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

References

External links

• Precambrian at Metal Blade Records
• Precambrian at Metal Blade Europe
• Precambrian at MusicBrainz (list of releases)