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Although rooted heavy metal and the punk/hardcore aesthetic, Isis' music relies just as heavily on ambience, atmosphere, and tone as it does complexity and aggression. Not so much a band per se as a musical collective, the members of the Boston-based quintet layer their compositions with feedback, power chords, quiet/loud dynamics, and vocals that are sometimes shouted, frequently screamed, and occasionally sung. The band wasformed by Hydra Head Records owner Aaron Turner, who was hoping to combine the minimalism ofEarthand the Melvins with the experimentalism of Godflesh, backed by the depth ...read more
Although rooted heavy metal and the punk/hardcore aesthetic, Isis' music relies just as heavily on ambience, atmosphere, and tone as it does complexity and aggression. Not so much a band per se as a musical collective, the members of the Boston-based quintet layer their compositions with feedback, power chords, quiet/loud dynamics, and vocals that are sometimes shouted, frequently screamed, and occasionally sung. The band wasformed by Hydra Head Records owner Aaron Turner, who was hoping to combine the minimalism ofEarthand the Melvins with the experimentalism of Godflesh, backed by the depth and power of the band's most obvious musical counterpart,Neurosis. It was the union of Turner with bassist Jeff Caxide and powerhouse drummer Aaron Harris that formed the core of theIsis project in1997. The band recorded a demo that year with guitarist RandyLarson,garnering the attention of Escape Artist Records.With noisemaker Chris Mereshuk on keyboards/samples and minus Larson, the band recorded the The Mosquito Control EP at God City Studios in 1998, establishing Isis as a band with artistic vision and conceptual foresight. Former Cast Iron Hike guitarist Mike Gallagher joined the lineup in time for atour with Converge and Cavity, just as Mereshuk exited and was replaced by Agorophobic Nosebleed's Jay Randall. In1999, Isis released an EP titled The Red Sea through Second Nature on both 8" vinyl and CD. Randall exited the group shortly thereafter andwas replaced by Cliff Meyer, and Isis subsequently toured with Cave In that summer before supporting Neurosis -- who hadbecome admirersof the group --that winter.In 2000, Isis produced their masterwork, the Celestial opus, which built upon the promise of the EP releases while expanding theband'sscope toinclude more warmth and melody than its decidedly brutal predecessors. The band toured relentlessly in its support with thelikes ofthe DillingerEscape Plan, Candiria, and Burn It Down, releasing a follow-up of material from the Celestial sessions through Neurosis'ownNeurot Recordings in 2001.Dubbed SGNL>05, the EP expanded the conceptual and musical threads of Celestial, complete with a remixbyone of the band's heroes, Godflesh'selectronic wizard Justin Broadrick.Oceanic became the band's breakthrough record, receiving positive reviews upon its release in 2002. The follow-up effort,Panopticon,appeared twoyears later, while the two-CD remix collection Oceanic: Remixes/Reinterpretations landed in 2005. One year later,the bandcollaborated with theScottish pop band Aereogramme for the 14th volume of the Konkurrent label's In the Fishtank series. Isisthen releasedtheir next full-length album, Inthe Absence of Truth, before touring alongside Tool, whose guitarist Adam Jones opted to joinIsis in the studioupon the tour's completion. Jones lenthis instrumental prowess to two songs, both of which appeared on the band's 2009album WaveringRadiant.In 2010, Isis announced their decision to break up, and later that year they played their last show in Montreal. Though the band was done,asplit EPwith the Melvins featuring unreleased tracks from the Wavering Radiant sessions would appear later that year. Isis' final release,thesprawling raritiesand demos compilation Temporal, appeared late in 2012. https://isistheband.bandcamp.com/ | https://isistheband-ipecac.bandcamp.com/ « hide |
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