This version exclusive to Cargo/375Media! German post-metal formation THE OCEAN will release their new album "Holocene" in May 2023! With Holocene, The Ocean add the new and final chapter in their paleontologically inspired album series. This time, the hardness of the collective is extended by some electronic dimensions. Founded at the beginning of the millennium, the group of musicians around guitarist Robin Stapps has not lost its intensity even after more than 20 years. The Ocean come together each time with a shared vision of boundless sonic exploration, never standing still, the band enjoys a stellar reputation in the genres of post-rock, progressive metal and even hardcore. Robin Staps commented on the final work in the Paleontological album series: "Holocene is an appendix to the 2 Phanerozoic albums and Precambrian, or the final and concluding chapter, making it a quadrilogy if you will. It deals with the Holocene, the most recent and shortest chapter in Earth's history, but essentially it's an album about fear, alienation, the loss of reason and critical thinking, the rise of conspiracy theories and the deconstruction of values in modernity." On the creation process and electronic basis of the new songs, he adds: "The writing process of every album we've ever done started with me coming up with a guitar riff, a drum beat or a vocal idea. This album is different because every single song is based on a musical idea originally written by Peter (Voigtmann, synthesizer). He came up with these amazing synth parts that sounded great even in pre-production, and he sent me some of these raw, unfinished ideas in the middle of "Lockdown 2020"... and even though it was all electronic, it had this definite Ocean vibe to it. I immediately wanted to pick up my guitar.... And I did, and it wasn't long before we had an inspiring creative exchange that went in completely unforeseen but very exciting directions." For fans of Massive Attack, Lorn, Archive, Trentemöller, early Moderat, Portishead, Isis, Mastodon, Katatonia, The Pineapple Thief Vinyl packaging: gatefold + metallic pantone inks + UV spot gloss + 20 pages booklet + printed inner sleeve