Ocean, The - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic / Cenozoic (2020)^{Release ID: 23691}

My good graces for The Ocean Collective have been running thin in the last couple of years, specifically with the release of their Phanerozic series, starting with Palaeozoic in 2018. The Ocean seemed very okay with the idea that they were going to create an album that was as drawn out and expansive as the real Palaeozoic era in the Earth's history!

Now, perhaps thankfully, The Ocean decided to cram the remaining two eras together on Phanerozic II in hopes of something a little more memorable. And, to my surprise, I think that The Ocean delivered. It's significantly better than act one, but I still do not think it lives up to the best moments from The Ocean's history.

This hybrid collage of Cult of Luna meets Leprous can only work if the music is itself enjoyable and for the most part it is. But the "Mesozoic" time here is more of the same drawn out, poorly constructed song structures that we saw on act one. I think "Triassic" is the better of the first two tracks, but even then, the production feels wonky, the vocals are very monochromatic and the main melodic idea is scarcely developed. The next track "Triassic | Cretaceous" is over thirteen minutes and is better produced, but the drawn out form feels about as long as it took for Pangea to split into two separate continents!

Then we reach the "Cenozoic" era and notice a change in song structure and form. They become more direct, the instrumentals are more developed and the main melodic ideas are elaborated upon. I heard someone say that "Eocene" is inexcusable, but I rather enjoyed it. The change of vocal timbre and the roughness in their delivery is matched well by the warmer, clean guitars, and simple bass and percussion.

As the album gets closer to the modern day, the songs extend again, but they seem more refined than previously mentioned. They almost take shape of older songs from The Ocean circa records like Precambrian or Pelagial. Which begs the question: why would The Ocean go on a journey through history, creating some of their least memorable tunes ever, only to return back to where they started before? It's a question we will never find out the answer to, but if this little escapade has taught the band anything, it's that a good humming tune will become timeless.