Post-metal pioneers THE OCEAN have announced their twelfth studio album "Solaris," accompanied by the release of lead single "Light Pollution." The album represents what founding guitarist and conceptual architect Robin Staps describes as the most ambitious project in the band's 25-year history.
The record takes its inspiration from Soviet filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 masterpiece of the same name — a film long celebrated for its meditations on memory, identity, and the unknowable. Running close to 70 minutes, "Solaris" translates that source material into THE OCEAN's characteristic dense, layered approach.
"Light Pollution" sets the tone with a blend of synth textures, orchestral elements, crushing heavy passages, and labyrinthine rhythmic structures. Lyrically, the track explores technology's encroachment on human consciousness and our collective drift toward simulated reality.
"Light pollution symbolizes the transparency of the postmodern age, permeating everything and everyone," Staps explained. "Everything is constantly visible; we've lost the darkness to hide in."
The album was constructed around a significantly restructured lineup. Between 2022 and 2025, THE OCEAN lost two-thirds of their members, leaving Staps and longtime bassist Mattias Hägerstrand to rebuild. The current incarnation adds drummer Jordi Farré, vocalists Enrico Tiberi and Lane Shi, and guitarists Emmanuel Jessua and Marco Gennaro to the fold. The production brought in an unexpected collaborator: Thorsten Quaeschning of legendary electronic outfit TANGERINE DREAM, who contributed modular synthesizers. Mixing and mastering fell to Jens Bogren.
Track listing:
- 52°30'11" N, 13°26'12" E
- Departure Song
- Light Pollution
- Simulacra
- Belligerence
- Ultima Esperanza
- Milk Of My Dreams
- 51°28'30" S, 73°6'11" W
After years of turbulence, THE OCEAN appear to have emerged with renewed creative purpose — and "Solaris" looks set to rank among the most challenging and rewarding records of 2026.