OCEANIC

The post metal band we call Isis really hit it big with this one. Oceanic is faster, more agressive, and maybe a bit less mature then than their next album panopticon. This was my first Isis album, I had struck out with Neurosis' Given to the rising, and kinda liked City of echoes, but had never really listened to post metal, until this. At first I didnt get it, yelling vocals that dont even pass as harsh IMO, and weird chord structure build ups, but I wasnt ready to give give up on the album. After about two weeks it finally clicked with me, and all the music came together suddenly came together into one great album.

The mood Isis constantly gives is highly atmospherical. Songs usually starting with a more brutal and heavy mood, quickly drop to a soft electric guitar riff, which then of course builds in the usual post fashion until every band member is playing loud and fast, with power chords, and trippy lead lines. Isis soups it up on this album though, the drumming is very simplistic, virtually no double bass, and a very primal beat, keeps the center of attention on the guitars, which are either doing long drawn out lead lines, or very down to earth riffs, and when the climax hits, vocals are more of a backround noise, more then the actual vocal point, with either yells, or a very etherial melody to contrast with the lead guitar riff. This album would be a three star if it werent for Weight, one of the greatest instrumental songs I've ever heard. Clocking in at ten minuetes, you can almost call this an epic, starting with soft tuned percussion, then toms to fill the emptiness. Female vocals, just mumbling random jiberish come in, and then on build the song, and after the song is over, you realise the song dosent even really have a climax, the most intense moment is at the end, but dosent really reach the level of power needed to call it a climax, and still, the greatest song on the album. The rest of the album follows the trend I explained before weight, until the last song, Hym. Pretty much the most powerful song on the album, and clearly portrays what panoptican is going to sound like. Starting with power chords and the spacey vocals in the backround, this song never really does back down from where it starts, just a nine minuete power train, and the second best song on the album.

Though it is a great album, Isis still had trouble finding the spacey post metal sound they acheived in panopticon. With sometimes moving guitar melodies, and brutal vocals and drums, this album is hard not to love, and I highly recomend it to anyone interested in post metal. 4 stars.