Isis - Oceanic review
| Band: | Isis |
| Album: | Oceanic |
| Style: | Post-metal |
| Release date: | September 16, 2002 |
| Guest review by: | Candlemass |
01. The Beginning And The End
02. The Other
03. False Light
04. Carry
05. -
06. Maritime
07. Weight
08. From Sinking
09. Hym
A great dive into deep sound, just a majestic atmosphere warping you tighter as you further deepen the dive into this amazing release.
Isis create a Sludge Metal experience none have preformed so purely before, the only ones that could be credited with such ambiance in there metallic sluggish approach to music are Neurosis.
Neurosis have managed to take post-rock elements and integrate them into there music as a part of the basic, Isis went a further step and
created a refined chassis for music of what is called by some "post-metal". Post-metal? Heavy guitar riffs, echoing atmospheres, gradual phasing evolution of song structure, mostly instrumental and experimental elements. I enjoy every second of this album as the tracks flow, unfold, evolve, build up tense and loosen. The dynamics change constantly. The perfect example for a build-up song structure is "Weight". The title fits the music emotionally amazingly, the feeling of floating lightly in a sea of cement. The song builds up slowly and gradually, tranquil silence to epic tensing burdensome proportions, using wide dynamics, ending with being led by some amazing female vocals. Isis manage to create a tremendous distinctive epic release, full of detail and soundscapes, sometimes touching, sometimes belligerent, and stimulating melodies that just leave you with the urge for more. One of the beauties of Isis is that they do not lose as many other experimenting metal bands, the basic need in my eyes of any metal bands, which is well written riffs.
Isis are talented musicians. They use elements from minimalistic music such as the repetitive riffs and segments which transcend you into a hypnotic trance-like-state. Every tool stands out and is used so tastefully everything fits in place perfectly.
Essential amazing and original substance you should not miss, this release is considered their classic and for justified reasons, this is their first unification of their original sound, in a mighty performance. It is the beginning of their intriguing evolution.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 10 |
| Songwriting: | 10 |
| Originality: | 10 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Candlemass | 10.07.2008
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Rating:
9.3
9.3
|
Rating: 9.3 |
I don't know how to react after hearing Oceanic. I feel relaxed and even doped as this album is really a huge and weird trip to another rare world. A band that mixes noisecore with ambient passages and is just marvelous (or weird, it depends on your ears), so let me tell you more about this CD. The first track "The Beginning And The End" starts very strong, as the drums enter with a catchy beat and then after some melodic arrangements Turner presents incredible violent vocalizations giving the song that extra twitch we all love. The song is 8 minutes long and only a few of those minutes have vocals. The other parts of this track are just aggressive riffs, breakdowns, incredible bridges (check the one in the fifth minute) and a lot of atmospheric sequences. Read more ›› |
Comments
Comments: 1
Visited by: 51 users
| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955  |
The female vocals in ''Weight'' were truly a nice surprise. Good review.
----  ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
Loading...
|
Hits total: 5288 | This month: 19