Expectations. The word carries a lot of weight. We have so many different expectations, and sometimes, even when we don’t realize we have them, they still spring up and get in our way. I make it a habit to teach those I work with that the best way to exceed expectations is to preemptively manage them.

I often don’t do that for myself.

For the last number of albums, and over the course of about 10 years, The Ocean has been on a path, setting itself apart as one of the most interesting metal bands currently active. They have explored the human condition through major geological epochs of the earth, painting with impeccable care, creating a string of powerful albums that have ranked amongst the very best each year they have released one.

Enter Holocene, their latest opus.

The writing has been on the wall. The Ocean didn’t come out of left field and knock us senseless with some unforetold haymaker. They have been expanding their sound, adding more keyboards, more dynamics and asking more of the listener.

For some reason, I was still surprised at what Holocene was. The initial single that was release seemed to really telegraph what was coming. Furthermore, the final track from the previous album “Holocene” presaged what was coming.

Still, both myself and much of the online music/metal community seemed taken aback by what Holocene was. It still sounded like The Ocean. But here we had much more electronic, keyboard heavy, and atmospheric release. The Ocean has never shied away from atmosphere in their music, particularly over the last decade or so. But here, something seemed just too stripped back. It felt to me that there was a lack of intensity.

I was bummed.

While at dinner with some friends prior to attending a YOB concert, Holocene came up in conversation. I clearly recall referring to it as “my least favorite Ocean album.” And that was the line I stuck with.

Until I had some time off. We were leaving town, family summer vacation time. We had a bit of a drive, not too long, but long enough for me to have some headphones in and to fire up this album. Even though I had largely written it off, I still felt bad. Here was the most recent release from one of my very favorite bands, and I still hadn’t really given it much of a chance. I hadn’t, still, listened to the album from start to finish.

A couple of hours in the car seemed a solid enough excuse to dedicate 52 minutes to at least one solid, uninterrupted listen.

Reader, I can’t give you the reason for what happened next. Was it just finally listening to the album start to finish? Was it that I was in a vacation state of mind and thus more relaxed, more open minded? Or was it just that The Ocean had secretly created an absolute fucking masterpiece and I was just too blind to realize it? We may never know.

Except for the fact that it is, in fact, a masterpiece. Of that, I no longer have any doubt.

Holocene just drips atmosphere, style, and confidence. This is the confidence of a band who understand just how talented they are, and that they can play with different textures, different layers, and still create incredibly compelling music. There is a swagger to the music here, so confident is the music in what it is presenting.

And intensity. So much intensity.

Yet used in an incredibly intelligent and sparing manner. Songs often build slowly, over the course of many minutes. There are crescendos and decrescendos, dynamics abound and each song is a journey. There are groovy moments that just make you want to move to the music, an almost dancelike EDM quality to them. But these are so adeptly coupled with passages of extreme heaviness, that I can’t decide, do I want to bop to the beat or full on bang my head and jump in the pit?

The truth is, what makes Holocene such a masterful album is the fact that both, almost simultaneously, are appropriate.

Holocene may not be my favorite album from The Ocean, but it isn’t far off. The more I listen to it, the more layers it seems to unfold to me, revealing a brilliance in song writing, structure, and storytelling that draws me in again and again. In fact, so engaging is that album that, despite actually being a few minutes longer than some of the previous albums, it feels far shorter. Holocene asks for an open mind, but when approached with one, it reveals itself to be a perfect album for our time. Balancing so many disparate elements in a manner that feels effortless, The Ocean are telling the story of our difficult times, times in which we all similarly balance almost innumerable responsibilities and roles. If we can only do so with such grace and elegance, we will surely live blessed lives.