The Agent of Oblivion Metal Alphabet: 'I' is for ISIS

[Agent of Oblivion]

Isis is one of my very favorite bands. Sort of standing on the shoulders of Neurosis, they took progressive metal in a different direction. I use "progressive" literally there. The things they do progress to the next part of the album. Formed in the late 90's by Aaron Turner and pals with various characters standing in here and there, like Justin Broadrick, Jay Randall (!), and a couple members of Tool, for whom they have opened a few tours.

When they first put out Mosquito Control, they were HEAVY as balls, although I think their production really lacked. Besides, they would do greater things later.

Isis - Mosquito Control EP - 1 - Poison Eggs
Isis - Mosquito Control EP - 3 - Hive Destruction

Red Sea introduced themes they would expand upon for several albums. These themes are detailed on their wiki entry (which is excellent) I'll defer to that in this regard since I don't really analzye music that way, and am more interested in them sonically, not thematically.

ISIS - Red Sea
That's fuckin' heavy.

 

[Agent of Oblivion]

Things changed in 2000. They signed to Mike Patton's Ipecac label and their production improved tenfold. It loses that raw edge of their early material, but listen to how much sharper and better this music is.

Isis - Celestial - 02 - Celestial (The Tower)
^This song is jaw-dropping live. Who knew such a simple riff could be so interesting? Love how it moves forward. Progressive!
Isis - Celestial - 03 - Glisten
Isis - Celestial - 04 - Swarm Reigns (Down)


After this album is where it gets crazy.

 

[Agent of Oblivion]

Isis - Oceanic - 1 - The Beginning and the End
Isis - Oceanic - 2 - The Other
Isis - Oceanic - 3 - False Light
^Destroys
Isis - Oceanic - 4 - Carry

Take a breath here; they do. It mellows out for a little while.

Isis - Oceanic - 6 - Maritime
Isis - Oceanic - 7 - Weight

Big conclusion time...
Isis - Oceanic - 8 - From Sinking
^similar phrase to the riff that opened the album. Awesome way to rework that.
Isis - Oceanic - 9 - Hym

Reader, I sincerely hope you listened to all of those, because that album FUCKING RULES.

Needless to say the complaint that they sounded a lot like Neurosis stopped by this point. This record was genre-defining.

 

[Agent of Oblivion]

...and so was this one. Panopticon. This album introduces political themes, which can be dicey business in the world of music, and aren't something I'm really a big fan of. Why? Because they automatically date oneself if treated with any degree of specificity. Thankfully, Isis are too smart to do that shit, and expand on Jeremy Bentham's theoretical prison system which they use as a metaphor for the camera-ridden surveillance state in which we currently live. (think Death's "1000 Eyes," philosophically speaking.) Oh, and I love love love how this album begins. It's like wading into speeding interstate traffic.

Isis - Panopticon - 1 - So Did We
Isis - Panopticon - 2 - Backlit
^Wish the sound quality was a little better here, but you get the idea.
Isis - Panopticon - 3 - In Fiction
^The place to start if all this seems rather daunting.
Isis - Panopticon - 4 - Wills Dissolve
Isis - Panopticon - 5 - Syndic Calls
Isis - Altered Course
^My personal favorite. The sound quality is better here than from the other guy. The waves crashing at the beginning aren't part of the song, but the images are quite fitting for the music. They've always had an aquatic theme. This is the climax, and then we have the ISIS BIG CONCLUSION.
Isis - Panopticon - 7 - Grinning Mouths

Seeing as how I can't decide if I like Panopticon or Oceanic more, I sort of pretend they're a double album called Oceanopticon, or maybe Panoptianic. Both sound cool.

 

[Agent of Oblivion]

I am confounded by In The Absence of Truth. Very nearly anything after the career and genre defining masterpieces of the previous two albums might be a little bit of a letdown, and I suppose I can't fault them for exploring new ideas and techniques within the frame of their own idiom since that's what makes them great and all, but I just can't call this album anything but a bit of a misstep. Apparently, the band members, all pursuing their own various side projects (of which there are many) were based in different parts of the country, and had a real bitch of a time focusing on this album. I can forgive that. Besides, in the context of Wavering Radiant, the sounds they were playing with here progressed into something really really cool.

Isis - Not in rivers , but in drops
Isis-Dulcinea
Isis - Holy tears

There are the highlights.

 

[Czech]

Finally, I can listen to Isis. I'd been too lazy before. I think it needed to lose that harder edge you talked about for me to be able to embrace it. Didn't like the vocals on "Red Sea," but I like them on "Celestial." "Beginning and the End" is musically cool but the vocals lose me here again. I guess I'm too much of a wimp for real metal vocals.

 

[Agent of Oblivion]

You might like ITAOT, then. It's much more chilled out vocally, and less dense.

Wavering Radiant combines the punch of their early stuff, with the cleaner production and vocal improvements that would come later. It's right there as an Album of the Year Candidate for me, which would give them a cool three this decade.

ISIS - hall of the dead
Isis-Ghost Key
Threshold of Transformation - Isis - Wavering Radiant

Yeah, if you've made it this far, you're already looking at live takes and listening to songs I haven't posted, so I won't spell the rest out for you.

I'd be very happy to have someone really discover this band here, as is sort of my intention with all these threads, even if I'm showcasing some fairly familiar acts to those already versed in the heavy shit.

 

[Gary]

I'm going to add Immortal. Sure, they look goofy as hell and Abbath sounds like a pissed off Popeye The Sailor, but damnit if Pure Holocaust and At the Edge of Winter (especially the latter) aren't awesome albums.

Immortal- Unsilent Storms In The North Abyss

Immortal- Tragedies Blows At Horizon

 

[snuffbox]

I really want to see Isis.

 

[Wario Lemieux]

Ihsahn. It's basically the dude from Emperor letting his Mercyful Fate influences loose. Pure awesome.

 

[Slayer]

I'd be very happy to have someone really discover this band here, as is sort of my intention with all these threads, even if I'm showcasing some fairly familiar acts to those already versed in the heavy shit.

Well, you can pat yourself on the back (or on your bald head) for introducing me to this band. To quote myself from the general discussion thread.

A couple years ago when Agent was talking about Isis being one of his fav bands, I checked out one of their CDs (Oceanic, I think) and didn't get too into it

After seeing Agent et al talk about the new Isis, I decided to get it and Agent was right: It is amazing, indeed. Only minor complaint is the harsh vocals can come of as a bit laughable at times, but this is definitely up in Album of the Year territory for me.

I'll be rechecking out Oceanic and the other songs you posted sometime this weekend, as I've had a long day of work and social stuff so I'm posting my quick hit articles for this thread and going to bed.

 

[Red Baron]

Slayer is gonna do a review on Iced Earth.

 

[Slayer]

Slayer is gonna do a review on Iced Earth.

WRONG!

And this isn't a fake-out like I did in the last thread, I never had any intention of writing about IE for this thread. I've cooled down on them over the last few years after being a huge fan of them in the earlier part of this decade. In fact, it makes me think of a topic for discussion in the general thread.

Now, first, I'm getting my negative article out of the way.

In Flames – Originally one of the big three pioneers of Swedish melodeath with Dark Tranquillity and At the Gates.

Jester Race and Colony = classic
Whoracle and Clayman = good
Lunar Strain/Subterranean = more like folksy black metal, but good
Reroute to Remain and thereafter = AVOID

A couple threads ago, Agent talked about not handing out the Cold Lake analogy lightly, and I agree, that title should only be reserved for times when a genre pioneer turns around and makes such an awful album blatantly cashing in on the mainstream of its time that the cloud of shame can never be lifted. I can say without a doubt that Soundtrack to Your Escape is melodeath’s Cold Lake.

Everything about this album, from the angsty title and equally angsty lyrics, angsty off-key clean vocals, stripped down drop-D chugga-chugga riffs, and fucking music videos featuring hoopty riders in south central LA, was a blatant attempt to pull in MTV nu-metal kids of the early 00’s. Even worse is that, unlike Celtic Frost who realized their mistake and rescinded, or even post-Load Metallica who knew that fans were still coming to concerts to see them play songs from KEA/RTL/MOP and obliged accordingly, In Flames has completely abandoned their old work in favor of their nu-metal direction and refuse to play the “classic-era” songs in concert anymore.

Fuck Anders Friden, I hope he chokes on his own dreads.

 

[Gary]

Ihsahn. It's basically the dude from Emperor letting his Mercyful Fate influences loose. Pure awesome.

I've been meaning to give that a shot for a while now, but I keep forgetting to.

 

[Slayer]

Now for two more positive articles.

Piet Sielck was a studio producer for several power metal bands in the early-mid 90's and also did sporadic guest musician spots on various albums. In 1997 he decided to form his own project with Kai Hansen (if you haven't noticed from the last few threads, Hansen is a central figure in power metal history) called Iron Savior. They produced a couple albums together before Hansen amicably left to concentrate on his other projects, leaving Sielck to continue the band on his own. Straightforward no frills power-metal (though Piet has a strong gruff voice that isn't your normal PM singer) complete with choruses that command you to sing along.

Recommend: Unification, Condition Red and Battering Ram

("Coming Home") - from Unification (1999)
("Eye to Eye") - ibid

("Never Say Die") - from Dark Assault (2000) (The opening buildup here gets me every time)

("Titans of Our Time") - from Condition Red (2002)

("Battering Ram) - from Battering Ram (2004)
("Starchaser) - ibid

 

[Slayer]

In the Woods was a difficult to categorize (atmospheric gothy avant-garde?) Swedish metal band that released three albums in the late 90’s. While the studio albums are pretty good in their own right, I prefer the live compilation Live at Caledonian Hall. In 2000 the band decided to end their run and performed/recorded their final show at the aforementioned theater. The live album includes nearly every song from the three studio albums, plus a cover of "White Rabbit" and King Crimson's "Epitaph". It's available on iTunes for only $10, which buys you two-and-a-half hours of atmospheric metal goodness.

No Youtube postings of the live songs save for one partial video from the concert, although you can check out the studio albums there. If anyone expresses interest I'll u/l a couple of songs from the album for your evaluation.

 

[Gary]

Holy shit, I love In the Woods. HEart of Ages and Omnio are fucking classics.

 

[Agent of Oblivion]

I really want to see Isis.

Do it the first chance you get, at all costs. They're terrific.

 

[samoarowe]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I saw these guys open for Tool a few years ago... and they were alright!

 

[Urban Warfare]

Decided to pick up Panopticon and Oceanic. Very impressive stuff indeed.

 

[Slayer]

Holy shit, I just heard Jim Rome using the opening of "Hall of the Dead" as bumper music

 

[Agent of Oblivion]

Ha!

 

[Agent of Oblivion]

The other day Jim Rome used Down's "Stone the Crow" as a bumper. He must have a metalhead interning for him as a board op or some shit.

 

[snuffbox]

They're playing Bonnaroo this year.

 

[Wario Lemieux]

They're playing Bonnaroo this year.

 

[snuffbox]

They're breaking up. I never got to see them.

 

[Incandenza]

Eh, they had a good run. And I'm glad I did get to see them, even if I found it a disappointing experience.

 

[Agent of Oblivion]

Great sadness. At least this will result in more side projects, because there's no way these fuckers sit still for too long.

 

[Gary]

Bumped because of a new Isis related side project called Palms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZntL_JEyz4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPlQaxsHGWs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErF3TWgJ_fo