On their last visit to Bengaluru in 2014, German progressive/metal band The Ocean were denied their dues, prevented from leaving their hotel and somehow wrangled a hurried show at a club, all within the span of five days. The band did make their India debut, but it wasn’t exactly on the best terms.
More than four years later, The Ocean returns to headline gig series Unscene’s joint show with Progworks. The band’s guitarist Robin Staps, who has already been to India a couple of times now, says he is looking forward to visiting the city as part of their five-city India tour. Staps recounts their previous visit to Bangalore, “We didn’t get to see much last time, to be honest. We were there for five days but we were kind-of trapped in that hotel.”
He adds, “I only remember one day, we were walking around somewhere but we had zero time to hang out and chill. For me, it is almost like visiting for the first time.” Joined by local bands such as Orchid (who are releasing their album Miasma ), Flaw & Order and Hyderabad-based Pandora’s Box, Staps says he has heard that Bengaluru has the strongest metal scene, “for the type of the stuff we’re doing.”
The Ocean, who have been around since 2000, are best known for their atmospheric, emotive brand of cerebral rock and metal, one that is often steeped in philosophy as much as it is in geology and the earth’s evolution.
Their 2013 album, Pelagial , for example, was about oceanic depths tied together with the darker, deepest corners of the human psyche. The follow-up, Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic , which arrived in October last year, deals with a period of the earth when complex life began to evolve. Staps says about the new album, “The band is very diverse stylistically and that has been, for some people, exactly what they like about this band. For other people, they like one side better than the other. This new record is the right mélange between the different styles we’ve covered in the past.”
With a mammoth 75 to 90-minute setlist in the works for their shows on this tour, there is one intense experience awaiting most fans and new followers. There is even a video in the works for another track ‘Permian: The Great Dying’ off Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic , which is being shot in different parts of the world, including Bikaner, Rajasthan. The Ocean are coming in right after a European tour and heading onwards to Australia and New Zealand, but the year involves a rigorous touring cycle until the middle of the year. Then, they plot out the second part of the double album that is Phanerozoic , which is currently being recorded.
Staps says, “We’re going to be out on the road until mid-April, possibly going to the US after that and play some summer festivals. In between, Loic (Rossetti, vocalist) and I are going to retreat to our little place by the ocean to record vocals.”
The Ocean performs at Fandom at Gilly’s Redefined, Koramangala on January 13. Entry: ₹ 950 to ₹ 1200, get tickets on hypel.ink/unscene-the-oceans-india-tour.
