When all that you do artistically borders on clear and absolute perfection, and each release is truly "the best thing, ever", is there any way to improve? Is the invisible island theory credible? From the very start, THE OCEAN has aimed to possess a strength of sound and power in execution as vast and mysterious as the monolithic body of water after which they are named. With "Anthropocentric" (companion to the untouchable "Heliocentric" from a few months' back), Robin Stapps and company answer with a resounding yes. That yes is also liable to squeeze the last bit of air from your pitiful lungs, so keep that inhaler close.

Following the formula that has worked thus far, "Anthropocentric" finds THE OCEAN back to basics, back to heavy, and above all back to intricate structure that lulls the listener into a place of safety first and foremost, and then essentially beats them senseless with wide and sweeping strokes of metallic mastery, fusing Doom, Groove, Grind, and a lot of screaming (a lot) into a cohesive whole of a black hole of majestically jarring stupendousness. Shades of times gone rise up, particularly in "She Was The Universe" which seems to touch on the melodic chorus lines of latter days' DEFTONES at least in passing and flirts with beauty in the slightly disturbing way of a dance club aesthetic: it doesn't care who you are, it knows it's good and you want it, dammit.

Delving further into lyrical concepts I am completely inept at going too far into, "Anthropocentric" is the perfect companion piece to "Heliocentric" and, as usual, defies a traditional going through based on songs. THE OCEAN make art, something to be listened to all the way through without pause for much reflection on what has transpired until it is all over. This incarnation of the group and their mindset is now over, so they can commence to playing their handful of shows, then record something else that makes (or should make) everyone stop and take some notice.

It's trite to say that a band cannot get better than they are, in some instances. THE OCEAN cannot. They can only keep being the best example of forward thinking music out there, and they are worthy of your attention, and very high praise.