The Ocean has put together a captivating visual to celebrate the recent release of their album Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic and remind us of the beauty of traveling at a time when so many of us are stuck at home dreaming about it. Scenes from a distant memory of tour life and places that many bands won’t ever see. Set to the instrumental version of their song “Triassic,” The Siberian Traps 2019 Tour Documentary was filmed by the band throughout their train-hopping tour of Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Japan, and was edited by Alex Kraudelt. Their melodic post-metal combined with the dream-like visuals makes for an immersive and haunting experience. Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic is out now on Metal Blade and Pelagic Records – order it here and listen to it below. Now watch our exclusive premiere of this mini-doc, and read what it’s all about:
One of the greatest adventures with this band was the 5-week “Siberian Traps” tour last summer, which started in Belarus, Armenia and Georgia, then took us on a 10.000km ride from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, all across Russia and Kazakhstan from west to east, before concluding in Japan. We lived on trains for weeks. We had to leave half of our gear behind at the airport of Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. We experienced the solitude of lake Baikal, the solemnity of Armenian monasteries, the exuberance of Georgian hospitality, and the silent anonymity of Shibuya crowds.
Some of these moments were captured on film, by band members. We had no camera guy with us, nor any crew: this tour was just us. Our sound guy had second thoughts and bailed a week before the tour. Alex Kraudelt compiled these self-made snapshots into a silent documentary, after our return home.
We found the instrumental version of Triassic to be the perfectly fitting soundtrack: also because parts of it were recorded during our one week stay in Yerevan, Armenia with traditional flutes and woodwinds player Hayk Karoyi Karapetyan, whom you will see in the opening and closing section of the film. The song itself was inspired by my own backpacking trips through the Middle East 15 years ago, long before the current wars ravaged the region.
– Robin Staps, guitarist
