Zwei Konzeptalben, die sich mit dem christlich geprägten geozentrischen Weltbild auseinandersetzen, ein weiteres zu einem Zeitabschnitt aus der Frühzeit der Erde, zuletzt mit Peligial eines zu den verschiedenen Schichten der Ozeane: Die Themen, mit denen sich das Prog-Metal-Kollektiv The Ocean rund um Gitarristen-Mastermind Robin Staps auf seinen Alben beschäftigt, sind weit weg von leichter Kost. Das gilt auch für den Sound der Musiker: Sludge Metal, Postrock, klassische Musik und progressive Elemente fließen bei der ursprünglich in Berlin beheimateten Band zu einem kraftvollen Sound zusammen, der gleichermaßen komplex und eingängig ist - und sich natürlich vor allem live mächtig entfaltet, wenn The Ocean weite, melodische Klangflächen aufspannen, atmosphärischen Gesang ausbreiten und dann alles mit nervenzerrenden Metal-Eruptionen erschüttern, während im Hintergrund Animationen und Lichteffekte über eine Leinwand flimmern.

Die letzten zwei Jahre gehörten zu den aufregendsten in der Karriere von THE OCEAN. Die Band spielte Touren in Nordamerika und Europa, wie es viele andere Bands auch tun. Zusätzlich schafften sie es aber auch nach Russland (inkl. Sibirien), China, Südostasien und Australien und holten sich dort Stempel für ihre Reisepässe. Opeth, Dillinger Escape Plan, Between The Buried and Me und Devin Townsend sind nur einige wenige Namen, die THE OCEAN während ihrer aufregenden Reise im Zuge ihrer letzten Alben Heliocentric und Anthropocentric supportet haben. Durch ihre unermüdlichen Anstrengungen haben sie sich eine der loyalsten Fanbasen der harten Musik weltweit erspielt. Nun, nach ihrer Rückkehr nach Berlin in der Schweiz (ein Running Gag innerhalb der Band über die Herkunft der einzelnen Mitglieder) melden sich THE OCEAN zurück mit ihrem bis dato wohl tiefsinnigsten und bahnbrechendsten Werk, Pelagial: eine progressive musikalische Reise, geschrieben, aufgenommen, abgemischt und live angedacht als ein einziges, 53 Minuten langes Stück Musik. Mix und Mastering wurde in die Hände von Jens Bogren (Opeth, Katatonia, Witchcraft) in seinen Fascination Street Studios im schwedischen Örebrö gelegt. Pelagial erscheint in Europa am 26./29. April und in Nordamerika am 30. April auf Metal Blade Records.

We play rock. We do it our own way. We are from Sweden. Should you need more info than this, we invite you to come back here in a veeery short while when we have updated our bio. Meanwhile, here's Lazarus Bird-related narcissism:
"the album's density is matched only by its bold ambition" 8/10 – METAL HAMMER
"stunning fifth album from ambitions and epically-minded Swedes." 4/5 – KERRANG!
"complex yet spiritually enriching" 8/10 – TERRORIZER
"A pearl that perfectly defines Metal and Rock in 2008" 86 / 100 - ROCK TRIBUNE
".... daring, experimental and super-opinionated" 84 / 100 - AARDSCHOK

The Band Fear My Thoughts was founded by some friends in the year 1997 in the small city of Rheinfelden (south-west germany). It was meant to be a funproject of some people who used to hang around with each other and listened to Slayer, Integrity ,Negative Approach and Dismember and resulted in a more serious approach when people seemed to dig the bands musical output.
After 5 Full length Albums and 2 MCD/Split Releases on labels like Let it burn,Lifeforce, Scorchedearthpolicy and recently CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS,Fear My Thoughts will release their next effort on July 18th 2008.This will be the first Record with their new Singer Martin Fischer. The Album is called "Isolation" and shows the band beeing more experimental and rocking than ever before. Expect a stunning mixture of modern metal/progressive rock and the vibe of the old heroes from "back-in-the-days", say Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, King Crimson, Pink Floyd or Deep Purple.

Crawling through the forest of time, we came to destroy your life - so you might rebuild it again with these ideals more in mind: rock, rock and more rock. So forget about your life for a moment and bang your fucking head.

Medeia was founded in 2002 with a clear mission from the very beginning: to concentrate solely on creating a brutal sound uncompromising in nature and rich in content. Their self-financed, self-produced and now sold-out debut album "Quantum Holocaust: World Domination" was released in the summer of 2006 and has since received solely positive reviews. In the summer of 2007 Medeia began to seek co-operating parties to work with on their future full-length releases. After discussions with Fullsteam Records the search was clearly over, and in early 2008 Medeia and Fullsteam Records announced the recording deal. Medeia is also in close co-operation with Finnish Nem-Booking and German Avocado Booking to reach live audiences in Scandinavia, Baltic countries and Europe. Medeia released a limited edition self-titled CD-EP in April 2008 and their second full-length album "Cult" was released in September 2008. The album consists of ten songs of Medeia at its best: dark, brutal yet still melodic attacks of alternative death-metal. Lyrically the band continues from the nuclear devastation that ended the QHWD album and dives deep into the minds of the few surviving beings. The leftovers of the human race are forming an ecstatic suicidal cult that exists to make sure that no other pitiful excuse for intelligence will ruin the planet again.
Medeia's current line-up got its form in early 2007 when Keijo Niinimaa (Rotten Sound) joined as the lead vocalist of the band. After that the band has showcased their aural battery alongside acts such as The Dillinger Escape Plan, Entombed, As I Lay Dying, Boris and Terror and also had their own Finnish headliner tour to promote the EP release in May of 2008. Medeia's live performance has always been one of the cornerstones of the band as their raw energy has dropped jaws all over Finland and will continue to do so outside of Finland after the album release.
The "Cult" album, the CD-EP, Fullsteam Records, Nem-Booking and Avocado Booking along with many new accomplishments to come will make sure that the year 2008 will be the year of Medeia.

“Ira takes some time. Or maybe just a minute. If you want. The Band was formed in 2003 in Konstanz, Germany. They recorded a Longplayer called „The Body and the Soil“, published via Go-Kart Records. They played some shows, as headliner or opening act for bands like Unsane, Cult Of Luna, Daturah, The Ocean, Heaven Shall Burn and more.
The Music of Ira is not hunting for fast effects. They write songs some may call „epic“, lasting from 7-15 minutes. Listening is easy, if you want. It is dynamic, sometimes tricky, mostly high emotional music. Yes, it is melancholic. There are a lot of ingredients. Some parts are heavy, but there is a slight amount of pop-appeal scattered between the soundscapes. They try to create different atmospheres, images, expressions. If you lean into it, it could get intense.”