OCEANIC

I would recommend that if you are new to Isis you should start with Panopticon. However, this album is also quite good. One can see the same great musical elements on this album that they seem to have honed and polished for the Panopticon album.

Isis is still not your typical prog-metal band, as they do not feature virtuoso musicianship as much as they feature a totally new approach to metal songwriting. The tracks are drawn out and have a tendency to drone on and on, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing in the case of Isis. They do it very well. They build up themes and layer tibres and sounds the way good post-rock bands such as Mogwai do.

Highlights of this album include "Maritime" and "Weight", whose light grooves are a nice break from loud guitars and dirty vocals (altought the track is still undeniably heavy), and female vocals on "Weight" serve to round out this well-composed piece. Another highlight is the final track, "Hym", which features bone crushing riffs that flow together so smoothly you'll think you're floating peacefully along a river of hot lava. Beautiful on one level, but hot and heavy at the same time. Wow, that metaphor was terrible. Sorry, I'll try better next time.

All in all, this album is another post-metal masterpiece from Isis, though overall the songs are not as tightly composed or dynamically beautiful as the ones on Panopticon (to which I gave 4.5 stars). Get that one first, then try this. 3 stars.