''Precambrian'' is the fourth studio album by the German
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
band
The Ocean, released on 5 November 2007 through
Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...
. It features several guest musicians, including
Caleb Scofield
Caleb Mark Scofield (October 6, 1978 – March 28, 2018) was an American musician who was a bassist and singer mostly known for the alternative metal band Cave In, and his own sludge metal band Zozobra. Caleb was also a part of the sludge band Ol ...
(
Cave In
Cave In is an American rock band that formed in 1995 in Methuen, Massachusetts. The band's lineup solidified with the 1998 release of ''Until Your Heart Stops'' through Hydra Head Records, and their early albums were prominent in the metalcore ...
,
Zozobra
The Zozobra (also known as "Old Man Gloom") is a giant marionette effigy constructed of wood, wire and cotton cloth that is built and burned prior to the annual Fiestas de Santa Fe in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. It stands high.
As i ...
,
Old Man Gloom
Old Man Gloom is an extreme metal band originally formed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but now based in Massachusetts. The group, formed by Aaron Turner of Isis and Santos Montano, expanded to become a sort of supergroup in the Boston hardcore and ...
),
Nate Newton
Nathaniel Newton (born December 20, 1961) is a former American football guard in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers. He also was a member of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League. He p ...
(
Converge
Converge may refer to:
* Converge (band), American hardcore punk band
* Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body
* Limit (mathematics)
* Converge ICT, internet service provider in the Philippines
*CONVERGE CFD s ...
,
Doomriders
Doomriders is an American stoner/ sludge metal band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band has released three albums on Deathwish, Inc. The band's vocalist/guitarist Nate Newton also plays bass in Converge and guitar in Old Man Gloom. Jebb Riley ...
), Dwid Hellion (
Integrity
Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values.
In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. Inte ...
), Tomas Hallbom (
Breach
Breach, Breached, or The Breach may refer to:
Places
* Breach, Kent, United Kingdom
* Breach, West Sussex, United Kingdom
* ''The Breach'', Great South Bay in the State of New York
People
* Breach (DJ), an Electronic/House music act
* Miroslava ...
), Erik Kalsbeek (
Textures) and musicians from the
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world.
History
The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...
.
Development
The main concept of the album is based around the
Precambrian
The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...
, an early period in the formation of Earth.
Hadean
The Hadean ( ) is a Eon (geology), geologic eon of History of Earth, Earth history preceding the Archean. On Earth, the Hadean began with the Formation of the Earth, planet's formation about 4.54 billion years ago (although the start of the H ...
/
Archaean (disc one) is heavy and raw just like their previous album
Aeolian while
Proterozoic
The Proterozoic () is a geological eon spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8million years ago. It is the most recent part of the Precambrian "supereon". It is also the longest eon of the Earth's geologic time scale, and it is subdivided ...
(disc two) is more
post-metal
Post-metal is a music genre rooted in heavy metal but exploring approaches beyond metal conventions. It emerged in the 1990s with bands such as Neurosis and Godflesh, who transformed metal texture through experimental composition. In a way simil ...
-influenced with the inclusion of symphonic and electronic elements like their first album Fluxion.
The production of the album lasted more than six months after their tour in Europe in late 2006. All the drum tracks done by Torge Liessmann and most of the guitar tracks were recorded at Studio57, near
Kokkola
Kokkola (; sv, Karleby, ) is a cities of Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland.
The town is located in the Central Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of ...
, Finland, where producer Jonas Olsson had also recorded and produced
Callisto's album
Noir. Some of the guitar tracks and all of the vocals, bass guitar, percussion, samples, and various instruments played by the
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world.
History
The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...
were recorded in The Ocean's own Oceanland Studio in Berlin, Germany. Additional vocals were recorded in Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Los Angeles, California and Seattle, Washington in the United States. It was mixed by Andrew Schneider in New York City. The album's
mastering was originally done by Nick Zampiello, but dissatisfied Robin Staps, and it was therefore remastered in Finland. The artwork was done by Martin Kvamme, who has done artwork for various
Mike Patton
Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...
projects like
Fantômas
Fantômas () is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain (1885–1969) and Pierre Souvestre (1874–1914).
One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appeared ...
and
Tomahawk
A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Europ ...
. The release in the United States and Europe differed; the U.S. version is in a two-disc crystal case while the European version is in a complex
digipak
Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage.
Jewel case
A ...
case with additional artwork.
Jonas Renkse
Jonas may refer to:
Geography
* Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands
* Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States
* Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States
People with the name
* Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas
* Jonas, one of ...
from
Katatonia
Katatonia are a Swedish heavy metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band started as a studio-only project for the duo, as an outlet for the band's love of death metal. Increasing popularity led them to ...
and
Bloodbath
Bloodbath is a Swedish death metal supergroup from Stockholm, formed in 1998. The band has released six full-length albums, two EPs and two DVDs depicting their performances at Wacken Open Air (in 2005) and Bloodstock Open Air (in 2010). The gro ...
was planned to be on the album, but due to Katatonia's touring schedule during the production, The Ocean was not able to approach him on time. The Ocean wanted to have
Dave Verellen
Dave Verellen is an American singer. He grew up in Tacoma, Washington, and was the vocalist for the influential mathcore band Botch. He has since gone on to play drums for the folk-country band Roy with his brother Ben Verellen (of Harkonen). ...
of
Botch to participate, but he never responded during production.
Track listing
All music written by Robin Staps. Lyrics written by Robin Staps except where noted. All non-instrumental songs include sub-titles that correspond to the lyrics provided, not to the main concept.
Personnel
Hadean/Archaean
;The Ocean
* Torge Ließmann – drums, percussion (all tracks)
* Robin Staps – guitar, percussion (all tracks)
* Matt Beels – guitar (all tracks)
* Mike Pilat – bass (all tracks), vocals (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5)
* Nico Webers – vocals (tracks 1, 2, 3)
* Meta – vocals (tracks 1, 5)
;Additional musicians
* Jason Emry – guest vocals (track 3)
* Eric Kalsbeek – guest vocals (track 4)
*
Nate Newton
Nathaniel Newton (born December 20, 1961) is a former American football guard in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers. He also was a member of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League. He p ...
– guest vocals (track 3)
* René Noçon – guest vocals (track 3)
* Walid Farruque – guest guitar (track 2)
Proterozoic
;The Ocean
* Torge Ließmann – drums, percussion (all tracks)
* Robin Staps – guitar (all tracks), clean vocals (tracks 2, 6, 7)
* Matt Beels – guitar (all tracks)
* Mike Pilat – bass (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7), vocals (tracks 2, 3, 6, 8)
* Hannes Huefken – bass (tracks 4 and 8)
* Nico Webers – vocals (tracks 2, 5, 8)
* Meta – vocals (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8)
;Additional Musicians
* René Noçon – guest clean vocals (tracks 3, 7, 8)
* Tomas Hallbom – guest vocals (track 7)
* Dwid Hellion – guest vocals (track 6)
*
Nate Newton
Nathaniel Newton (born December 20, 1961) is a former American football guard in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers. He also was a member of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League. He p ...
– guest vocals (track 8)
* Jan Oberg – guest vocals (track 6)
*
Caleb Scofield
Caleb Mark Scofield (October 6, 1978 – March 28, 2018) was an American musician who was a bassist and singer mostly known for the alternative metal band Cave In, and his own sludge metal band Zozobra. Caleb was also a part of the sludge band Ol ...
– guest vocals (track 3)
* Jonathan Heine – guest bass (track 6)
* Stefan Heinemeyer – guest
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
(tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9)
* Karina Suslov – guest
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
(tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
* Christoph Von Der Nahmer – guest
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
(tracks 2, 3, 4, 8)
*
Katharina Sellheim
Katharina Sellheim is a German classical pianist, with a focus on chamber music and lied accompaniment. She has appeared in recitals internationally, collaborating with members of the Münchner Philharmoniker, and has been a lecturer at the Mus ...
– guest
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
(tracks 2, 6, 7, 8, 9)
* John Gürtler – guest
saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
(track 1)
* Daniel Eichholz – guest
glockenspiel
The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone.
The glo ...
(tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 7)
* Jonas Olsson – guest
tambourine
The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...
(tracks 5, 7, 8)
* Tomas Svensson – additional
samples (track 1)
References
External links
Precambrianat
Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...
Precambrianat
Metal Blade Europe
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Precambrian (Album)
2007 albums
The Ocean (band) albums
Metal Blade Records albums