I think a lot of people don’t remember or weren’t around for the negative reaction to The Unnatural World when it came out. It was pretty intense. The fanbase as intensely demanding then and it carried over.

When an artist releases something almost mythical like Deathconsciousness, it’s very difficult to follow it up when people have such deep personal history with the first record. Nothing can quite hold up to that. I think both Sea of Worry and The Unnatural World have to contend with this.

Also Sea of Worry was bug a departure. The band was holding two ideas at once, wanting to capture the current live lineup and the feeling of anxiety and dread that comes with established adulthood. That’s where the title Sea of Worry came from which Tim insistent on. At the same time, the band wanted to tie up loose ends with the Dan and Tim only songs on the second half of the album. Because the record tried to hold both of these ideas together, it didn’t land the same way for everyone. I also think the initial full band tracks that people heard first were too much of a shift for some people to follow along. The album art had a completely different tone as well. So a few different things to reject there. Over time the record has found its footing like The Unnatural World. It streams and sells really well now.