While the addition of vocalist Meta seemed to make the music more accessible to some, it also caused many other critics to consider the album a step backwards in terms of innovation and originality compared to the instrumental Fogdiver.

In interviews, the band would comment on this by pointing out the perceived closed-mindedness of some of the reviewers and their supposed inability to deal with the harshness and brutality of the anti-Christian, anti-theistic vocals now added to The Ocean's sound.

But whereas Fluxion had featured only one singer, seven of them could be found on Aeolian, among them Nate Newton, Sean Ingram, and Tomas Hallbom, whose names were also used extensively for the album's promotion campaign.

According to the band, Meta's voice on Fluxion had created a monotony that was to be avoided on Aeolian, which also resulted in the addition of second vocalist Nico Webers.

A few months later Nico Webers left to join War from a Harlots Mouth, leaving Mike Pilat as the band's sole vocalist.

In April 2008, The Ocean embarked on a year-long tour through Europe and North America with bands like Intronaut, Opeth, and At the Gates.

They announced that their first live DVD would be filmed on 29 January 2011 in Berlin at the Museum für Musikinstrumente and will only contain tracks from their album Precambrian.

[5] In a September 2012 article on the website MetalSucks, Robin stated that the new album was due for an April or May release in 2013 and would have very few if any vocals, but elaborated that Loïc remains the vocalist of the group despite the change in style.

[7] It was later announced that Paul Seidel of the band War from a Harlots Mouth would replace Hess after the current tour.

[23][24] On 18 September 2024, the band announced the "End of an Eon" tour that will take place through mainland Europe from December 2024 to February 2025.

Sometimes the band is known as The Ocean Collective as it features a revolving cast of members and (long-time) collaborators, centered around guitarist and composer Robin Staps.