The Ocean
Fluxion

The ocean, an eternal source of inspiration for the inspired (?) human race. And undoubtedly, The Ocean are inspired. This collective of 8 German lads, led by the brilliant long-haired Robin Staps, who, needless to say, writes all the music, the lyrics, and we can imagine provides drinks in the evening, are the authors of 2 CDs - this Fluxion and the reviewed Aeolian - recorded simultaneously two years ago.

This Fluxion decisively showcases the band's most ingenious side. The side that combines classical music with sludge metal and death metal without falling into the usual scragagnafazzo (neologism) without a beginning, journey, and/or destination. Classical music that integrates perfectly into the music, both from a strictly auditory perspective and a deeper, metaphysical, and spiritual one: the song form wanders off together with the suite form, decidedly more progressive, but also classical and, why not, considerably cooler, based on crescendos, alternating between truly katifi moments and vast spaces dominated by the wide classical instrumentation. The album itself is a crescendo, in terms of listening pleasure, a crescendo that culminates in the spectacular Fluxion first and then in the extraordinary Isla del Sol.

I could elaborate on the technical side - there would really be a lot to say - but, as someone once said, when you explain a poem, it becomes banal. Let's instead focus on the deeper and emotional side of the album. Power. Power, the ocean is powerful, and The Ocean are powerful, and the music of Fluxion is Powerful, strong, compelling, crashing against the cliffs of human existence with an immeasurable roar, rises, regrows. Brief moments of pause but the waves calm only in appearance: it's a strange, grand, divine beast in a certain sense. Powerful. This is what The Ocean convey. In reality, I feel bad giving it 4 stars, because it deserves more than four stars. But it's not the ultimate masterpiece yet. But we're really, really close.