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Isis - Panopticon



8.7 | 455 votes |
Release date: 19 October 2004
Style: Post-metal

Owners:

521 have it
64 want it
1 trades it


01. So Did We
02. Backlit
03. In Fiction
04. Wills Dissolve
05. Syndic Calls
06. Altered Course
07. Grinning Mouths

Top 20 albums of 2004: 6
Top 200 albums of all time: 164

Guest review by
Nosurper
Rating:
9.1
Ever get the feeling you're being watched?..."FEAR OF THE DARK! FEAR OF THE DAAAARK!"...no, not exactly. Not like being watched by Sully and Mike Watshisname from your bedroom closet. No. I'm talking about being watched. Government surveillance, chemtrail conspiracy theory...you know, Unquestionable Presence type stuff. That's what Panopticon is about. I harken to visions of nuclear warheads soaring up into the sky from undisclosed sites on the rural countryside (thanks Terminator 3).

Read more ››
published 13.12.2011 | Comments (5)

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Comments

Comments: 28   Visited by: 901 users
25.12.2011 - 20:29
JD
Account deleted
It quickly started to grow on me, after the first listen.
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11.01.2012 - 12:13
Kenos
Account deleted
Written by Nightfall on 11.01.2012 at 01:13

Y u disband.


Perhaps they felt they had nothing more to offer; in fact "Wavering Radiant" is a damn good album but ultimately unoriginal.
Imo it was the best choice and an honest way to end a wonderful career... Unlike many other bands who run out of ideas but keep releasing sterile albums...

This one is their masterpiece, btw.
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12.01.2012 - 02:00
Rating: 9
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by Guest on 11.01.2012 at 12:13

Written by Nightfall on 11.01.2012 at 01:13

Y u disband.


Perhaps they felt they had nothing more to offer; in fact "Wavering Radiant" is a damn good album but ultimately unoriginal.
Imo it was the best choice and an honest way to end a wonderful career... Unlikely many other bands who run out of ideas but keep releasing sterile albums...

This one is their masterpiece, btw.


agree with everything except the unoriginal part. ...Radiant is by far my favorite album by them and I cannot think of another album to compare it to.
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rekt
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27.06.2012 - 16:45
Rating: 10
lord artan

Best post metal album
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12.11.2012 - 22:46
Rating: 8
CobiWan1993
Secundum Filium
I love this album, it's my first from Isis, and I'm looking to get more from them. The only other album I have from them is Wavering Radiant, which is awesome.
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Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe (Lao Tzu).
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15.04.2013 - 01:53
Rating: 9
InnerSelf
proofread free
Certainly one of the best albums this genre had to offer.
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He who is not bold enough
to be stared at from across the abyss
is not bold enough
to stare into it himself.
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06.07.2013 - 16:25
Rating: 8
Mephistopholes1
Shawb
No matter what, the peek of their music for me will always be Oceanic. Not that this one isn't great, but If only Oceanic had "Wills Dissolve" in it...
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30.04.2014 - 05:39
Timmeh
Dudeman
Remaster just got released, I've never thought of this album as one that needed one - but I'm interested to hear it none the less.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/panopticon-remastered/id856283473
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30.04.2014 - 11:48
Rating: 10
moonflash

That remaster sounds quite brilliant. Was quite relieved to hear that they didn't go with the over produced muffled sound which many remasters sadly get in the end product essentially ruining the listening experience. But this remaster, it has enormous character of its own. The songs which were masterpieces to begin with have aged wonderfully as well. Overwhelming stuff.
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[http://atthematinee.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/voyagedans.jpg]
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30.04.2014 - 16:20
Rating: 9
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by Timmeh on 30.04.2014 at 05:39

I've never thought of this album as one that needed one


Thanks for the info and I agree, not sure this needs a re-tool. I will check it out...
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rekt
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01.05.2014 - 08:03
Timmeh
Dudeman
Written by tea[m]ster on 30.04.2014 at 16:20

Thanks for the info and I agree, not sure this needs a re-tool. I will check it out...


Let me know what you think. You can listen to a remaster of Backlit here, I think it actually sounds pretty good. It gives each instrument track a little bit more distinctiveness, although I don't think I would call it a significant improvement or one which overly encourages you to supersede the original.
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07.09.2014 - 01:19
Rating: 10
_deepblack

My All time favorite band and their best album In Fiction - Altered Course - So did we are the best tracks i can feel and connect every note they play \m/ too bad they disbanded
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07.11.2016 - 04:48
Maco
Pvt Funderground
Explosive atmosphere this one has.
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Crackhead Megadeth reigns supreme.
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07.11.2016 - 18:19
Rating: 9
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by Maco on 07.11.2016 at 04:48

Explosive atmosphere this one has.

Arguably the greatest post metal album ever written...
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rekt
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05.12.2017 - 04:38
VIG
Account deleted
Written by tea[m]ster on 07.11.2016 at 18:19

Arguably the greatest post metal album ever written...

For me that'd be Through Silver In Blood or Given To The Rising, but the only Isis I have heard is Oceanic, which is up there in my favorite post metal releases.
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05.12.2017 - 18:50
Rating: 9
BloodTears
ANA-thema
Written by Guest on 05.12.2017 at 04:38

Written by tea[m]ster on 07.11.2016 at 18:19

Arguably the greatest post metal album ever written...

For me that'd be Through Silver In Blood or Given To The Rising, but the only Isis I have heard is Oceanic, which is up there in my favorite post metal releases.


I consider Panopticon even better than Oceanic. You should definitely listen to this album. It's post-metal perfection.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29

Like you could kiss my ass.


My Instagram
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05.12.2017 - 18:53
VIG
Account deleted
Written by BloodTears on 05.12.2017 at 18:50

I consider Panopticon even better than Oceanic. You should definitely listen to this album. It's post-metal perfection.

Yeah, I see a lot more people talking about Panopticon than Oceanic.
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06.12.2017 - 01:23
Rating: 8
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
I'm just gonna chime in and say this album is, indeed, pretty awesome.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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06.12.2017 - 19:21
Rating: 9
Paz
Nuclear Cowboy
Written by BloodTears on 05.12.2017 at 18:50

It's post-metal perfection.

Agree
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01.09.2019 - 10:17
Mercurial

It's a pleasant, nice album, but feels like there are just loads of better post-metal albums out there.
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18.05.2021 - 18:51
Rating: 9
nonZero

Not as good as Oceanic IMO (that album is a 9.1/10 whereas I would rate Panopticon 8.8/10). 'So Did We', 'In Fiction' and 'Altered Course' are the stand-out tracks for me.
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Top 500 Albums (ordered & rated)
Top 200 Overlooked Albums (with genres)
So I Heard You Like Wintersun... (Time II find new bands)
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22.09.2021 - 13:52
Rating: 9
Mehrad

داعش > طالبان
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Ride a horse that's cleaving through the air and space of dreams.
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06.12.2022 - 20:40
Rating: 8
Boxcar Willy
yr a kook
Great album. I'm not super big on the clean vocals, but it obviously carries a huge sound and atmosphere.
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14:22 - Marcel Hubregtse
I do your mum

DESTROY DRUM TRIGGERS
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20.02.2024 - 18:29
Rating: 10
Snowfox

Best thing ever.
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20.02.2024 - 21:53
Rating: 9
Guib
Thrash Talker
Although I prefer Oceanic myself, this album is fucking awesome. A must listen.

Edit: Also whatever Mercurial said up there in the 2019 comments, No.. No there isn't. And if there was they too would probably be in MS' top 200.
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- Headbanging with mostly clogged arteries to that stuff -
Guib's List Of Essential Albums
- Also Thrash Paradise
Thrash Here
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28.02.2024 - 20:57
Rating: 9
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
I prefer this slightly more so than Oceanic tbh, it's a wonderful album and I can definitely see why it's so highly appreciated. "Altered Course" and "Grinning Mouths" are amongst the two finest post-metal tracks I've ever heard.
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28.02.2024 - 21:36
Rating: 10
musclassia

It's genuinely so hard to differentiate between Oceanic, Panopticon and Wavering Radiant (and arguably In The Absence Of Truth, although that has a couple of weaker tracks that place it just below the rest), but if I had to choose, I'd maybe say this is the most 'complete' album of the bunch - it's still got a lot of what made Oceanic so incredible (the build in Syndic Calls is one of the best post-metal builds around), but tracks like Wills Dissolve venture a bit more towards the mellow noodly progginess that grew in the following two records. In any case, Isis (and Cult Of Luna) got very close to perfecting the whole post-metal concept in the 2000s before the imitators even had the chance to take their own stab at it.
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29.02.2024 - 01:22
Rating: 9
Guib
Thrash Talker
Written by musclassia on 28.02.2024 at 21:36

In any case, Isis (and Cult Of Luna) got very close to perfecting the whole post-metal concept in the 2000s before the imitators even had the chance to take their own stab at it.


Yeah there's not much that can beat these two bands honestly. It is just a fucking shame that we won't get more Isis.
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- Headbanging with mostly clogged arteries to that stuff -
Guib's List Of Essential Albums
- Also Thrash Paradise
Thrash Here
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