Metalcatto
The Ocean has a problem. It has produced perfect albums like Precambrian and Pelagial, and one of my biggest disappointments: Holocene. Hence, my hopes for Solaris were low. The band has done it all now, right? What could possibly be missing? Right—going to space. Time to leave the Dinosaur Metal behind, sadly, and go into the beyond.
The Ocean is back. The band has had significant lineup changes, and Solaris shows it clearly, but in this case, change has brought a new creative pathway. One that mixes the grandeur of Phanerozoic and the experimental parts of Holocene. All that with the pace and challenges of The Ocean‘s older albums. This album is indeed a space opera, except that it’s not cringe at all. It’s ambitious, it’s sprawling, and it somehow manages to feel both familiar and completely new.
The strongest element here, beyond the original songwriting, the varied vocals, or even the sound experimentation, is the narrative. Solaris is extremely good at telling its story. One of crisis and space exploration that by the end, as all the coordinates in it indicate, comes full circle. And don’t worry, it’ll have its heavy moments too, but they’re used seldom to properly raise the stakes. Yet, I did get a bit frustrated.
The last two tracks, people—what the fudge? Now, on a more serious tone, it’s not the fact that they’re almost purely electronic tracks, but they feel like two interpretations of the same idea. The album is pretty long, and it would have been great if it ended with a bang instead of hypnotic club music with deep lyrics. It’s a strange way to close an otherwise stellar record, and it left me more confused than satisfied. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe The Ocean wants you to leave with questions rather than answers.
The Ocean refuses to stick to one formula. Love them or hate them, these guys are going to surprise us every time. And though I was left confused in the end, there’s so much talent in Solaris, so much understanding of what Post-Metal can be and how it can be pushed to new places. This is how to return to form and innovate at the same time. I guess it wasn’t a lie—this sound is as vast as the ocean. So if you’re ready for a journey that doesn’t follow a straight line, Solaris is waiting.
Label: Pelagic Records
Release date: September 25th, 2026
Website: https://theocean.bandcamp.com/album/solaris
Country: Germany
Score: 4.0/5.0
Metal Eclipse Reviews 