The Ocean Collective

The Ocean
The Ocean in 2005 (LtR: Nico Webers, Torge Liessmann, Andreas Hillebrand, Gordon Hünies, Der Lünd, Meta, Gerd Kornmann, Robin Staps)
Background information
Also known as	The Ocean Collective
Origin	Berlin, Germany
Genres	Progressive metal, post-metal, sludge metal, avant-garde metal
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Metal Blade, Make My Day, Throne
Associated acts	War from a Harlots Mouth, Mozek Motors, Geld et Nelt, Llnych, Coilguns
Website	www.theoceancollective.com
Members	Robin Staps Loïc Rossetti Damian Murdoch Paul Seidel Mattias Hägerstrand
Past members	See list of The Ocean band members

The Ocean (a.k.a. The Ocean Collective) is a progressive metal band started in 2000 by German guitarist Robin Staps. The band's first stable line-up was formed by 2009 during recording sessions for Heliocentric and Anthropocentric.

The Ocean was founded in 2000 by guitarist and songwriter Robin Staps. During the following two years, about 40 musicians joined and left the band until a stable line-up was established. July 2002 saw The Ocean play their first concert at Berlin's now defunct semi-legal . Shortly after, the band released their eponymous debut album featuring Islands/Tides, a 30-minute-long song that also constituted the substance of their early live shows.

After a brief tour with Swedish crust punk outfit Coma in early 2003, the band signed to Make My Day Records, which then released Fogdiver, an EP consisting of five instrumental songs—despite the fact that on stage, at least two singers could be found. Unlike its predecessor, this recording received considerable acclaim from critics throughout a variety of genres.

During winter and spring 2004, The Ocean recorded what was to become the material for their two following albums. The calmer and more atmospheric half of this recording session was released as Fluxion in August 2004; a joint effort of Make My Day and Throne Records. While the fact that the band now used vocals on their recordings seemed to make the music more accessible to some, it also caused many other critics to consider the album a step backwards in terms of innovation and originality. In interviews, the band would comment on this by pointing out the perceived closed-mindedness of some of the reviewers and their supposed inability to deal with the harshness and brutality the anti-Christian, anti-theistic vocals now added to The Ocean's sound.

After signing to Metal Blade Records in summer 2005, all the remaining songs from the session were released as Aeolian. Since Fluxion and Aeolian had originally been planned as a double CD with a mellow and a brutal part — a plan that did not work out — Aeolian came across as very different from its predecessor. Unlike on previous albums, classical instruments and electronic sounds were hardly used here, making the record sound rather minimalistic. But whereas Fluxion had featured only one singer, seven of them could be found on Aeolian, among them Nate Newton, Sean Ingram, and Tomas Hallbom, whose names were also used extensively for the album's promotion campaign. According to the band, Meta's voice on Fluxion had created a monotony that was to be avoided on Aeolian. March 2006 saw the North American release of the album. Later that year, a joint vinyl version of Fluxion and Aeolian was released by Throne Records, featuring three records in different colors. Recently in late 2007, they released a new 2 disc album entitled Precambrian. In April 2008, The Ocean embarked on a year-long tour through Europe and North America with bands like Intronaut, Opeth, and At The Gates. In April 2009 it was announced that lead vocalist Mike Pilat was leaving the band for personal reasons and other commitments.