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Isis - Oceanic CD (album) cover

OCEANIC

Isis

 

Experimental/Post Metal

4.08 | 222 ratings

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zravkapt
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars These guys were listening to a lot of Mogwai before they made this, their second album. Compared to the first album there is a strong post-rock influence here, which becomes even more important on the following albums (some of the members will later form their own post-rock group Red Sparowes). Oceanic by this Boston group is considered one of the earliest examples of what would be called 'post metal'. There is no verse/chorus structure, no guitar solos, no virtuosity. Atmospheric sludge metal with hardcore yelling type vocals. There is also female vocals that aren't really singing anything. There is some electronics and organ which works well with the guitars. A water theme to the album. A concept album about a guy who commits suicide after he finds out his love is cheating on him with her brother. Lovely.

"The Beginning And The End" begins the album as one of the more traditional metal sounding songs. Centred on changing riffs and the rough, yelled vocals. Already after a minute things mellow out and go into a light groove. Later gets faster and more aggressive sounding. Keeps the pace but gets less heavy. "The Other" basically starts out in mid-paced Mogwai territory, the music is fairly easy-going and not in a hurry to go anywhere. Then we get some metallic guitar (which Mogwai themselves sometimes have) and yelling vocals before it goes back. A lot more traditional metal sounding later on. Goes through some repeated chords before doing some riffs.

"False Light" starts out very sludge metal sounding. Just before halfway goes into mellow Mogwai territory (as opposed to loud and distorted Mogwai territory). "Carry" is one of the highlights. Beginning with atmospheric guitars and electronics, this is the most melodic part of the album yet. A very simple drum part lays the groundwork for the Mogwai-ish guitar playing. A Mogwai-like crescendo is developed as the yelled vocals make an appearance. Then female vocals in the distance. Gets more metallic and riff oriented towards the end. "Maritime" is perhaps the most 'post-rock' sounding track. A simple, repeated drumbeat overlaid with clean picked guitars and some lovely organ for the majority of the song. A vaguely Middle-Eastern guitar motif appears towards the end.

"Weight" is another highlight. It starts off very mellow and atmospheric. Some guitars and drums can be heard in the distance. The tom-tom heavy drumming gets more upfront in the mix before playing a beat. Simple repeated guitar picking and female vocals join in. The guitar picking becomes strumming as the music builds a crescendo. The female vocals repeat gibberish at the end. It finishes with some sampled and modified orchestra sounds. "From Sinking" opens almost sounding like Tool with growls. Later goes into Mogwai territory before returning to a Tool vibe. Halfway the drumming stops and there is some of the finest guitar sounds on the album. When the drums return the music is again more Mogwai sounding. Except for the vocals, even the loud distorted part at the end sounds more Mogwai than metal.

"Hym" begins with some memorable riffage before going 'post metal' on us. Then some sludge metal/stoner rock type riffs. Goes back to a more mellow vibe before building up a crescendo. The music on Oceanic is generally very good but the vocals leave a lot to be desired; I wish they just had the female vocalist. The album is over an hour and tends to sound too samey after awhile. They would refine their sound on the next few albums. Overall a decent effort and influential. I would give this a 3.5 but can't quite give it 4 stars, so 3 stars it is.

zravkapt | 3/5 |

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