The idea of an album being an experience is one that has waned in recent time, and I find that to be a damn shame. I’ve always reveled when a band or artist takes it upon themselves to create an experience where they could’ve so easily just created any amount of songs, thrown them onto a disc, and called it an album. It’s something that doesn’t happen as often as I’d like, but it’s because of bands like The Ocean Collective that such an art is kept alive and breathing in the modern music industry.

Of all the styles of metal that I’ve seen albums become experiences out of progressive metal wouldn’t exactly by my first hope and choice, but I’m far from opposed to it. For years, I’ve heard talk here and there about how wonderful The Ocean Collective is and how crazy their albums can get. Never really sat down and listened to them which is the unfortunate case with me and many other acts, but it’s with “Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic” that I’ve decided to finally get a piece of what I’ve been missing. The Ocean Collective brings together science and progressive metal yet again for a concept album that takes us through the grand, massive tale that is the Phanerozoic eon where life saw many ups and downs including the diversification of life across the globe and the slate nearly being wiped clean five times. “Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic” is the first in a pair of two albums, and already the bar is set incredibly high as The Ocean Collective brings to the table so many different elements from across the great spectrum that progressive metal encapsulates to maximum effect from the range of the vocals to the glorious instrumentation to the beautiful detail put into such an interesting concept that isn’t easily executed.

There are very few times that I feel compelled to go back into a prog metal record over and over again, but that’s all I could do every single time as The Ocean Collective is all but infectious by the end of the wonder that is “Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic”. Incredibly few things can come close to retelling the grand history of life on this planet, yet The Ocean Collective performs one of the most staggeringly interesting examples of showing us the grand journey of life coming back from the brink several times stronger than before.

“Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic” releases on November 2nd via Metal Blade Records!

PRE-ORDER “Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic” via iTunes here.

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE The Ocean Collective on Facebook here.

FOLLOW The Ocean Collective on Twitter: @OceanCollective