Finnish symphonic metal formation AND OCEANS have announced that vocalist Kim ’Kena’ Strömsholm has stepped down from the band, due to personal reasons. The band remains on friendly terms with their former vocalist and are wishing Kena all the best for future endeavors. A replacement has already been found in singer Mathias Lillmåns, who is also known from his work with FINNTROLL and DISPYT.
AND OCEANS comment: “We are glad to announce that we have found a new singer. We want to welcome our old friend Mathias Lillmåns to the band. He doesn’t really need an introduction, but he’s best known for his work with FINNTROLL and numerous other bands. We’re excited to have him on board, as he is taking this position with all the seriousness it should be taken. He has big shoes to fill. We’ve started working on the vocal arrangements with Mathias and we are still entering the studio in October. The band will be taking some time to prepare for the recording process and to make the best AND OCEANS record so far.”
Mathias Lillmåns comments: “I first heard about AND OCEANS exactly 20 years ago. ‘The Dynamic Gallery Of Thoughts’ record had just been released and I was totally blown away by it. Never in my life would I have imagined that something this well-written and produced would come out of our little home town, Pietarsaari. And never ever would my teenage mind have guessed that I would find myself in the situation I am in now. Years went by and I watched the progress of the band as both a fan and a friend of the guys. Heck… We even had some side-projects together. I guess it was a given fact and no surprise that the guys called me up when it was time to pass Kena’s torch on. Here we are years later, ready and stronger than ever to unleash a new AND OCEANS album upon the world. This is going to be awesome!”
AND OCEANS will not be giving interviews for the moment, as they will be focusing on recording their new album. The new record will be released on Season of Mist next year.
The year was 1995, the fumes of Scandinavian black metal was poisoning the air and the second wave of black metal had taken a new form. AND OCEANSemerged the scene with an exceptional and unique symphonic approach to the music. Still seeking the musical path to take, the Finns delivered a few demos before signing to Season of Mist 22 years ago.
At this point the band had already found its path to walk, shaping the music and lyrics away from the regular black metal outfits and topics with ambient parts and lyrics twisting the reality, using different languages and provoking and confusing both the media and fans.
1998 the debut album ‘The Dynamic Gallery of Thoughts’ received strong feedback in the media and the word got out in a fast pace, which lead to a split album ‘WAR’ with label mates BLOODTHORN; an album featuring new songs and covers. A new perplex album ‘The Symmetry of I, The Circle of O’ was already in the making and which in 1999 pushed the boundaries even further.
Entering the Abyss Studios with the Tägtgren brothers in 2000 changed the whole band once again. The album A.M.G.O.D. was musically very far from the early symphonic black metal delirium with its electronic post-modern approach.
After touring with MARDUK, MORTICIAN, VADER etc. the band re-entered the Abyss Studios to record a more of an elementary album featuring industrial and power electronics vibes. In 2002, when the last album ‘Cypher’ was released, the band had reached its full circle and decided to call it a day.
17 years later, and after many discussions and questioning, AND OCEANS decided to re-form for a couple of gigs. It seems like the era for AND OCEANS hadn’t come to an end after all. A new album is on the run, new performances are in the pipeline, a new deal with ‘already familiar’ Season of Mist has been signed – one could say they’re back.
Genre: Symphonic Black Metal
Line-up:
Timo Kontio – Guitar
Mathias Lillmåns – Vocals
Teemu Saari – Guitar
Antti Simonen – Keys
Kauko Kuusisalo – Drums
Petri Seikkula – Bass
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/andoceans/
https://www.instagram.com/andoceans_official/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0rWmH68lIyVOGYhhvayFzu