[Click play above to stream Ether / Return to Earth by From Oceans to Autumn in its entirety. Album is out today, May 5, via Argonauta Records.]

After debuting in 2013 with the full-length A Perfect Dawn, North Carolinian heavy post-rock outfit From Oceans to Autumn return with the sophomore outing Ether / Return to Earth on Argonauta Records — a broad-scoped two-disc vision of experimentalist textures and weighted progressive crunch. Led by founding multi-instrumentalist and engineer Brandon Helms, the band seeks to convey precisely what it references in the two-part title, which is the duality between the nonphysical and the physical, the ether and the earth.

This comes through in a methodological split between the two sections of Ether / Return to Earth, the first disc of which is comprised of four tracks, three of which are over 13 minutes long, that conjure a patient and often drumless ambient wash, resonant drones emerging, existing, subsiding in succession as each piece develops, culminating with the 19-minute “Stratus/Vapor” as a singular moment of immersion that cuts on the second part of the record like “Visible Light” and “Isle” seem to directly counteract with their heavier thrust. Of course, there’s still plenty of atmospheric depth to Return to Earth as well, as From Oceans to Autumn show in “Reconnect” or even the latter stages of opener “Arrival,” but there can be no question they’re working from a foundation that is, fittingly enough, more grounded in creating it.

All told, this huge undertaking of mood and exploration comes close to hitting the two-hour mark, so it’s safe to say it’s legitimately two albums put together. I wanted to talk to Helms about how the concept fed into the construction of the material itself and get a sense of some of his motivations in the making — namely whether where he lives in North Carolina played a role in how Ether / Return to Earth ultimately took shape. As you make your way through the full-album stream above, you’ll find the results of the short Q&A below. How’s that for duality?

Please enjoy the following Six Dumb Questions:

Six Dumb Questions with From Oceans to Autumn

Tell me about the recording process for Ether / Return to Earth. It’s been four years since your debut. Was there anything specific you were trying to accomplish here to follow-up on that?

We are always trying to push ourselves in the writing and recording process with each release. We also really wanted an album that had two identities, one more experimental and free flowing with the other more focused and straightforward, at least for us. And I think we accomplished this goal on Ether / Return to Earth.

At over an hour and 45 minutes long, Ether / Return to Earth is massive, but that hardly captures the sprawl of the tracks themselves. What goes into writing a song like “Stratus/Vapor” for you? How much is based on studio experimentation as opposed to being thought-out or planned beforehand? What about “Visible Light II” or “Keep a Watchful Eye?”

Honestly a lot of Ether was experimented while in the studio recording. “Stratus/Vapor” is a perfect example of studio experimentation. “Visible Light II” was recorded very much like “Visible Light” on our last album, A Perfect Dawn. It’s more heavy noise/distortion than anything else on the album. “Keep a Watchful Eye” was actually written a few years ago and revamped and rerecorded for this album. It was never released prior to now. Funny thing is we recorded an entire album in 2014-2015 that featured this song that was never released!

What is the difference in mindset for you between the two discs of the album? How do you feel each represents its title, and how intentional was that going into the project?

Ether is more ambient/experimental in nature. The songs are more drawn out and free flowing. Return to Earth is heavier, more straightforward in nature. Together they are opposites of each other.

Tell me about where you’re from in North Carolina. For music so atmospheric, did the physical landscape surrounding you play into the songwriting at all? Do you take inspiration from your surroundings, or is it more just about the musical exploration?

We are from Charlotte, NC, right between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, hence our name. Both landscapes offer a huge amount of inspiration while writing and coming up with ideas. It also inspires us musically to experiment more with different sounds.

Where do you see From Oceans to Autumn developing from here? Will you continue the Pareto Analysis series, and what is the concept behind that? Do you see future works developing along a thematic line like Ether / Return to Earth?

Pareto Analysis series is now complete and available for download on our Bandcamp page. We are currently working on rerecording parts, remixing and remastering our last album, A Perfect Dawn. We also are mixing and mastering an album we recorded last fall, some of it has been released in the form of demos but the final version will sound nothing like it!

Any other plans or closing words you want to mention?

Thanks for having us!

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Tags: Argonauta Records, Charlotte, Ether Return to Earth, From Oceans to Autumn, From Oceans to Autumn Ether Return to Earth, North Carolina

This entry was posted on Friday, May 5th, 2017 at 7:56 am and is filed under Six Dumb Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.