art•ist 'ärt- est n 1: one
who is able by virtue of imagination and talent or skill
to create works of aesthetic value, especially in the
fine arts 2: a person whose work shows exceptional
creative ability or skill Exceedingly creative people
who embody the very definitions of "artist" are never
predictable. Neither can the inherent beauty of their
creations be classified. Welcome to the bizarre world of
Finland's ...and Oceans, where song titles boast up to
62 characters, where everything runs in the opposite
direction, and where life never gets boring. While their
name has nothing to do with nature, it speaks to the
band's natural affinity for thoughts and colors, and the
ellipsis symbolizes the preface before everything,
before existence, before time, before darkness, before
silence, before sound. Formed in 1995 by members of
death metallers Festerday and Black Dawn (who wanted to
further their reputation as an eccentric metal band),
...and Oceans debuted in 1998 with the Season Of Mist
release The Dynamic Gallery Of Thoughts, and then one
year later, charted their transitional period with The
Symmetry Of I - The Circle Of O. Following the release
of their Century Media debut with 2001's Allotropic/Metamorphic-Genesis
Of Dimorphism (produced by Tommy Tägtgren [Marduk, The
Forsaken, Dark Funeral] at the Abyss B Studio and
featuring artwork by Dark Tranquillity's Niklas Sundin),
the band toured Europe with Marduk, Vader, and Mortician,
leaving lasting impressions due to the nature of their
unique stage shows. As musicians who have never feared
working with sounds and styles that aren't usually
associated with metal, the band have long-since
transitioned out of their black/death metal sound to
avoid stagnation. By continually pushing the imposed
boundaries of the musical community they reside in, they
champion the message of the need and reward in exploring
the world with new eyes. This latest offering, Cypher,
is an oasis of imagination, born of combined creative
streaks that are a retreat for those who thirst for the
unusual. Recorded once again at Abyss B Studio with
Tommy Tägtgren, Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles has
accurately observed that "...and Oceans have always been
about five steps sideways of the black metal scene,
living life as an over-the-top cerebral bastard child
that no one quite knew how to categorize. Cypher is as
strange and twisted as ever." For as many different ways
the permutations of sound can be assembled, there exist
that many rules that can be broken. ...and Oceans are,
by virtue of their creativity and talent, musical
rioters always seeking to overthrow all known rules.
Expect anything.
(Source: MySpace profile)
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Finland
1995
