OCEANARIUM

"Oceanarium" finds both Deluge Grander and their listeners on a precipice. As it happens, the band place their wonderful limited edition 2014 album "Heliotians" at the start of a whole seven album series, with this release meant to be interrelated with both its predecessor and promised follow up "Lunarians". Exhibit A is the description of this album's "Marooned and Torn Asunder", which hearkens back to "Saruned" and apparently forwards to a track called "Torn Amoonder". Furthermore, there is an increasing amount of musical ingredients, with the group's Canterbury leanings becoming more apparent to the point of fusion, a return to some heavier moments last seen with Cerberus Effect, some violin use that reminds of David Cross era Crimson, and even use of banjo, mandolin, and hammered dulcimer. Appropriately enough with the band taking the plunge into ever more ambitious musicmaking, the hard- hitting opener "A Numbered Rat, A High Ledge, And A Maze of Horizons" is meant to invoke the image of a ratman tumbling down from some height to a world of strange landscapes, warring factions, some sort of battle of the bands between Sun Ra and Moondog, and TJ Hooker. Colour me intrigued.

Highlights include the aforementioned opener, which compares favourably with Haken's "The Mountain" and has some of the most jazzy moments on the record. As well, there's the somewhat Floydian "Drifting Inner Skyline Space", the split up piece made up of "Finding A Valley" and "Finding A Shipwreck", and the rambling "Tropical Detective Squadron". In general, the band create not just a nice symphonic soundscape, of which there are plenty every year, but one which mixes in influences and sounds that have been woefully uncommon in the symph revival. This release is one that symph lovers should be particularly excited for, offering new horizons both in the music itself and what the future holds.