I usually don’t go in for comps, if only because there’s generally no flow to them whatsoever, but there are enough bands I’ve never heard of on the French two-disc offering (Ocoai, Monachus, Kalkh-In(Joy) Erode, etc.) Falling Down II, mixed with enough of the familiar (Ufomammut, Kongh, Farflung, etc.) that I’m interested to hear how it comes out. The best part might be that it’s made up almost entirely of previously unreleased material.

Actually, scratch that. The best part is that the track by German neo-prog metallers The Ocean is called “Asslickers Incorporated.” Yup, that’s definitely the best part.

The compilation is due out in March, and preorders are being taken at the MySpace page (you can also order the first, 3CD Falling Down there). Here’s the full tracklist for Falling Down II:

CD 1
01. Across Tundras, “Final Breath over Venom Falls” (Unpublished Version)
02. Monachus, “Februari” (Unpublished)
03. White Hills, “Heads on Fire” (Unpublished)
04. Ocoai, “La Main Electrique” (Unpublished)
05. Farflung, “R-Complex” (Unpublished)
06. Impure Wilhelmina, “Cold Fever” (Unpublished)
07. Time to Burn, “Elena Djinn” (Unpublished)
08. Gnaw Their Tongues, “We Breathe Hate and Spit Fire from Our Mouths” (Unpublished)
09. The Poisoned Glass “Silent Vigil” (Unpublished)
10. Kalvria, “.N” (Unpublished)
11. U.S.Christmas, “Lazarus” (Live)
12. Kingdom, “Ruina: Where Men Go To Die” (Unpublished)
13. Kalkh-In(Joy) Erode, “Xwck” (Unpublished)

CD 2
01. Kongh, “Thunders Collide” (Unpublished, 2006)
02. Tesa, “Untitled” (Unpublished)
03. Omega Massif, “Am Abgrund” (Unpublished)
04. Kodiak, “By the Sea” (Unpublished)
05. When Icarus Falls, “Nyx” (Unpublished)
06. The Ocean, “Asslickers Incorporated” (Unpublished)
07. The Dillinger Escape Plan, “Farewell, Mona Lisa”
08. Jucifer, “Marianas” (Unpublished)
09. Ufomammut, “Astrodronaut” (Unpublished Version)
10. God is an Astronaut, “Shining Through”
11. ???????, “Mirage” (Unpublished)
12. Taint, “Black Rain” (Live)
13. Mumakil, “Dawn of Slugs” (Unpublished)

And here’s the Latvian post-metal band Tesa, to whom I’d never listened before posting this:

Despite both bands playing a modern and often staggeringly heavy form of progressive metal, I?ve always compared Germany?s The Ocean and Chicago?s Yakuza in terms of situation more than style. Basically, the deal is both bands offer parts that are ball-rattlingly heavy and few songs that are actually memorable the whole way through. Likewise, both bands have developed cult followings who would say I?ve got my head up my ass for thinking that. Maybe I do.

Regardless, my pre-listening impression (read: prejudice) of Pelagic/Metal Blade?s reissue of The Ocean?s 2004 full-length debut turned out to be pretty accurate. ?Gee, I bet this?ll sound kind of like The Ocean does now, but less fleshed out and more intense.? Sure enough, anyone who got bored or whose mind wandered during the ambient parts of 2007?s conceptually weighty sleeper hit Precambrian might have an easier time connection to the Fluxion material. It?s still some pretty heady post-metal, but not in the Neuro-Isis sense, and hearing the hunger in the songwriting of guitarist/vocalist/songwriter/percussionist/Pelagic label owner/sampler specialist Robin Staps gives the songs a perceptible immediacy that some of their latter material, while much grander in scope, could never replicate.

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