While they've always ebbed and flowed between different extremes over the course of the past 30 years, on their upcoming seventh album, ...and Oceans are surging onto the scene with their most expansive experiment in symphonic black metal. The Regeneration Itinerary melds black and death metal with symphonic, industrial and electronic elements, plus inspiration from Paulo Coelho's best-selling novel The Alchemist.
The band's latest single from The Regeneration Itinerary pushes them into further uncharted territory. With its relentless riffs, soaring orchestration and maze-like song structure, "Prophetical Mercury Implement" dives deep into the album's overarching themes of transformation, duality and rebirth.
Watch the music video for "Prophetical Mercury Implement" below:
The Regeneration Itinerary comes out May 23rd on Season of Mist.
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https://orcd.co/andoceanstheregenerationitinerary
On "Prophetical Mercury Implement", ...and Oceans encapsulate the full metal alchemy of The Regeneration Itinerary. The band's latest single draws upon the volatile yet transformative properties of mercury. Vocalist Mathias Lillmåns dissolves into reflective waters, where self-awareness and annihilation become indistinguishable.
"Now, I am the medium / I am the stream…
Drowning in argent colors / This vast bottomless ocean."
"Prophetical Mercury Implement" is the turning point in the album's narrative. It embodies the struggle between light and darkness, stagnation and progress, fate and free will.
"'The Prophetical Mercury Implement' is an existential realization", Lillmåns says. "I was exploring some very deep waters at some point, I could see the mercury dripping from my side, but still wanted more, searching for new dangerous currents to take me further.
"I just kept on feeding the destruction until one day I had reached some kind of a threshold. Even though this track is a view from a vast bottomless depth it also offers a glimpse of the other side, a promise of redemption and transcendence."
Weaving between chaotic black metal and dreamlike passages, "Prophetical Mercury Implement" surges forth as a towering demonstration of how ...and Oceans continue to evolve amidst the landscape of symphonic black metal.
The video for "Prophetical Mercury Implement" was created by Aarni Visuals.
“The Regeneration Itinerary explores the interplay between darkness and light, chaos and order, spiritual and material realms, with each song embodying an experience for the mind and body, navigating a passage to the present moment,” explains Lillmåns.
“The album works like a guide,” he continues. “Teaching us that not everything can be defined as simply being ‘good’ or ‘bad’, ‘light’ or ‘dark’, ‘copper’ or mercury’, underscoring the perpetual dance of dualities in the human experience.”
Line-up:
Mathias Lillmåns - Vocals
Teemu Saari - Guitar
Timo Kontio - Guitar
Pyry Hanski - Bass
Antti Simonen - Keyboards
Kauko Kuusisalo - Drums
Production Credits:
Recorded at Inka Studio / SoundSpiral Audio, Orimattila, Finland.
Producer & Engineered by Juho Räihä.
Mixed & Mastered by Tore Stjerna at Necromorbus Studio, Söderfors, Sweden.
Cover Art:
Adrien Bousson
Biography:
Spencer Grady
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Follow ...and Oceans:
Bandcamp: https://andoceans.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/andoceans/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andoceans_official/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0rWmH68lIyVOGYhhvayFzu
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/and-oceans/32204550
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/artist/11172
TIDAL: https://tidal.com/browse/artist/3565685