Conifer & Ocean

Important Records has released a split 12" with new material from Portland Maine's Conifer and Ocean. Apparently both bands have shared members and are good friends, but also musically it makes sense to pair them up on a split. Both bands feature a single 20 minute track that explore many of the different aspects of heavy music. Full length albums from both bands are expected to hit next year and I will be looking forward to hear what they come up with.

Ocean

Important Records put out Ocean's demo on limited edition vinyl (500 copies). The demo 'Monument/Fork Lashing Eye' was released on CD-R in 2004 and then the band went on to record the epic debut 'Here Where Nothing Grows' which came out in 2005. They did a fine job on the packaging which includes hand pressed foil stamps on both sides of the jacket. The jacket itself is flimsy, but did a Japanese-style resealable plastic cover which contains OBI-esque strip at the bottom. The wax is fairly hefty even though its probably not 180g but it sounds great. They are supposed to have an album coming out in 2007 so I'll be looking forward to that.