THE OCEAN + MORBID EVILS – KUUDES LINJA, HELSINKI – 28/05/2015
A cinematic journey into the depths of the ocean
The German progressive and post-metal titans THE OCEAN with their excellent latest album «Pelagial» (2013, Metal Blade) did not want to end their lengthy tour of two years around the world without having visited Finland. The mini tour of ten dates in Scandinavia included the Finnish cities of Tampere and Helsinki. The Berlin based band was accompanied by the Finnish doom-death-sludge metal band MORBID EVILS for their gig in Helsinki and the night before in Tampere. Below you have a brief review about the fantastic concert of both bands in the small Helsinki venue Kuudes Linja:
MORBID EVILS
Only a few people in the audience but with a really committed fan base this young band from the city of Turku began their performance at 20:45. MORBID EVILS is a power trio with Keijo Niinimaa (also the lead singer of the grindcore band ROTTEN SOUND) on vocals and guitar, Jan Trygg on second guitar and Timo Niskala on drums. The low lights and huge layers of smoke were presented as the perfect setting for the slow, monotonous, dark and destructive sound the band displayed. The creepy grunts of Keijo -an interesting hybrid between doom and death metal- resonated powerfully through the room. For the demonic and heavy song «In Hate» they were joined by Damian Murdoch from THE OCEAN on the third guitar. The 50 minute concert included six songs them from their newly released debut album «In Hate With The Burning World» (2015, Svart).
THE OCEAN
As described in the biography of the group in Facebook: watching THE OCEAN performing live is an experience. The description proved to be right due to a number of factors such as images, atmosphere, light, darkness, music that enable this band to be such a successful one on stage with its resounding, crushing, cinematic and orchestral sound. At 22:10 the group took the stage while we heard the calm intro «Epipelagic». Just behind the Paul Seidel drums a huge screen displayed the continuous images of the film made by Craig Murray as visual companion of the album «Pelagial». One by one the epic songs of the album were played as a whole from the beginning to an end. Thus, one of the most acclaimed songs of the evening was the quiet and at the same time chaotic «Bathyalpelagic I: Impasse». In this piece the band displayed all their power: Loïc Rossetti alternated between clean vocals and superbly hellish cries as he jumped endlessly on stage; Robin Staps and Damian Murdoch executed powerful dissonant riffs that combined both delicate and beautiful arpeggios creating the perfect melody; and the rhythm section consisting of Paul Seidel on drums and Chris Breuer on bass were superb keeping the rhythm of the song and creating the perfect soundscape.
Other songs performed maintained the quality expected and a little more. For example, «Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams» was a complete adrenaline rush; while «Abyssopelagic I: Boundless Vasts» was a turning point that helped us to reflect; and «Hadopelagic II: Let Them Believe» was pure coolness between the alternative and experimental. Meanwhile, Keijo Niinimaa of MORBID EVILS returned the favor to the Germans and got to sing a duet with Rossetti the aggressive and guttural song «Demersal: Cognitive Dissonance». All were excited and even ecstatic of those present. One must highlight the great work of Loïc Rossetti, the lead singer of the band who was very energetic throughout the presentation making the audience part of the wonderful experience that THE OCEAN is all about. This was visible through different examples such as passing the microphone to some of the guys in the audience to shout one of the songs or even jumping into the crowd and been caught by the audience without them letting him drop.
Finally, the band said goodbye with the sludge metal piece «Benthic: The Origin of Our Wishes» and that way closing the cycle of the album «Pelagial». This was not the end of the concert as the band returned once again to the stage to play an intro and three more songs. In short, an hour and a half of total domination by the Berlin band, both of their musical instruments and the emotions of the audience. What was experienced that night was what we could define as a tremendous performance including an excellent sound! THE OCEAN is certainly an remarkable band and group of musicians that is improving every year without losing its freshness and innovation. I can guarantee that anyone who has an opportunity to see THE OCEAN during this summer festival season will not be disappointed.
Setlist:
1- Epipelagic
2- Mesopelagic: Into the Uncanny
3- Bathyalpelagic I: Impasses
4- Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams
5- Bathyalpelagic III: Disequilibrated
6- Abyssopelagic I: Boundless Vasts
7- Abyssopelagic II:Signalsof Anxiety
8- Hadopelagic I: Omen of the Deep
9- Hadopelagic II: Let Them Believe
10- Demersal: Cognitive Dissonance
11- Benthic: The Origin of Our Wishes
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Encore
12- Shamayim
13- Firmament
14- The Origin of Species
15- The Origin of God
