My definitive lineup:
Michael Gallagher - Guitars
Jeff Caxide - Bass
Aaron Turner - Vocals, guitars, artistic vision
Aaron Harris - Drums
Bryant Clifford Meyer - Guitars, electronics, keyboards
Many people hail the American ISIS as the progenitor of the genre that is now labelled as "post-metal"; a style of music that combines massive and slow riffs from doom and sludge metal with soft, lightweight and psychedelic drones that originate in post- and progressive rock. While this may not be the whole case, it is pretty close to the truth.
The band that really has given the birth to post-metal, is Neurosis, that has for its existence played its own brand of sludge (a style that combines the heaviness of doom metal with the speed and aggression of hardcore punk) by fusing it with slow, psychedelic elements. Still they were considered a sludge band, albeit an original one. Instead ISIS was originally nothing more than a band imitating Neurosis. However, as time passed, ISIS first happened to create their own unique sound, and then began to fuse it with heavy influence from atmospheric post-rock. The result was neither sludge nor post-rock, but a combination that was bigger than its two constituents separately. It was metal that could be first as heavy and thick as doom metal, and next as beautiful and ethereal as post-rock.
The first album that could be considered as "post-metal" is ISIS's first full-length album, Celestial (2000), but it relied so much on Neurosis-y sludge and so little on post-rock-ish atmospheric material, it could be argued that the first true post-metal record was the 2002 follow-up, Oceanic, an impressive blend of psychedelic prog-rock drones and crushing metal riffs.
Most defining elements of ISIS's music have been Aaron Turner's sparse growling vocals, that work more as an instrument of their own instead of being lead vocals in the front, massive guitar riffs and sections that create an immense wall-of-sound, that are contrasted with dreamy, effects-heavy, psychedelic drone sections, and the melodic bass lines of Jeff Caxide, which regularly use the upper register to bass, giving it more prominence and emphasis. Also, from the first full-length album, ISIS's records have been somewhat thematically coherent concept albums, although Turner's cryptic, dreamy lyrics leave pretty damn much to interpretation.
Since the band's inception, the majority of the vocal output has been delivered in death-metal-ish growls and roars, but little by little, Turner included also his clean singing into the mix. His clean vocals got better and better as he gained more confidence in singing, their 2006 album In the Absence of Truth being probably the best example of his clean vocals.
The way I found the band was back in early 2006, when last.fm - one of my favorite websites - suggested ISIS to me based on my listening habits. Back then, the suggestions were pretty reliable (unlike today), so without a second thought I downloaded their then most recent album, Panopticon, and thought I'd give them a shot.
With only the first seconds of the first track, "So Did We", I was blown away. Quite literally too, with its bombastic opening. The sheer massiveness and heaviness combined with those soaring, graceful melodies had me instantly hooked. Since then, I've regarded ISIS one of the foremost interesting modern bands, and not just in the genre of metal, but in music in general. And I guess I am not the only one who thinks so, because as of late, loads of bands influenced by these guys have started to appear; some nothing more than boring ISIS clones, others creating something new and interesting from the material ISIS originally put together. Though ISIS are now gone, as they decided to call it quits a year ago, in 2010, the post-metal front seems to be still pretty fresh and lively, and it seems that even though there will probably be no new albums from this band, their legacy will live on and there will be numerous good post-metal records to come.
The band that really has given the birth to post-metal, is Neurosis, that has for its existence played its own brand of sludge (a style that combines the heaviness of doom metal with the speed and aggression of hardcore punk) by fusing it with slow, psychedelic elements. Still they were considered a sludge band, albeit an original one. Instead ISIS was originally nothing more than a band imitating Neurosis. However, as time passed, ISIS first happened to create their own unique sound, and then began to fuse it with heavy influence from atmospheric post-rock. The result was neither sludge nor post-rock, but a combination that was bigger than its two constituents separately. It was metal that could be first as heavy and thick as doom metal, and next as beautiful and ethereal as post-rock.
The first album that could be considered as "post-metal" is ISIS's first full-length album, Celestial (2000), but it relied so much on Neurosis-y sludge and so little on post-rock-ish atmospheric material, it could be argued that the first true post-metal record was the 2002 follow-up, Oceanic, an impressive blend of psychedelic prog-rock drones and crushing metal riffs.
Most defining elements of ISIS's music have been Aaron Turner's sparse growling vocals, that work more as an instrument of their own instead of being lead vocals in the front, massive guitar riffs and sections that create an immense wall-of-sound, that are contrasted with dreamy, effects-heavy, psychedelic drone sections, and the melodic bass lines of Jeff Caxide, which regularly use the upper register to bass, giving it more prominence and emphasis. Also, from the first full-length album, ISIS's records have been somewhat thematically coherent concept albums, although Turner's cryptic, dreamy lyrics leave pretty damn much to interpretation.
Since the band's inception, the majority of the vocal output has been delivered in death-metal-ish growls and roars, but little by little, Turner included also his clean singing into the mix. His clean vocals got better and better as he gained more confidence in singing, their 2006 album In the Absence of Truth being probably the best example of his clean vocals.
The way I found the band was back in early 2006, when last.fm - one of my favorite websites - suggested ISIS to me based on my listening habits. Back then, the suggestions were pretty reliable (unlike today), so without a second thought I downloaded their then most recent album, Panopticon, and thought I'd give them a shot.
With only the first seconds of the first track, "So Did We", I was blown away. Quite literally too, with its bombastic opening. The sheer massiveness and heaviness combined with those soaring, graceful melodies had me instantly hooked. Since then, I've regarded ISIS one of the foremost interesting modern bands, and not just in the genre of metal, but in music in general. And I guess I am not the only one who thinks so, because as of late, loads of bands influenced by these guys have started to appear; some nothing more than boring ISIS clones, others creating something new and interesting from the material ISIS originally put together. Though ISIS are now gone, as they decided to call it quits a year ago, in 2010, the post-metal front seems to be still pretty fresh and lively, and it seems that even though there will probably be no new albums from this band, their legacy will live on and there will be numerous good post-metal records to come.
***
My top-10 list of songs that are worth checking out:
Carry
Celestial (The Tower)
Dulcinea
Ghost Key
Holy Tears
In Fiction
So Did We
Syndic Calls
Weight
Wrists of Kings
***
Reviewed albums:
Wavering Radiant (2009) - 83/100
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