Oceanic (Isis album)
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| Oceanic | |||||
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| Studio album by Isis | |||||
| Released | September 16, 2002 | ||||
| Recorded | April–May 2002 | ||||
| Genre | Post-metal | ||||
| Length | 63:20 | ||||
| Label | Ipecac Recordings (CD) (IPC-032) |
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| Producer | Isis, Matt Bayles | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| Isis chronology | |||||
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Oceanic is the second full-length album by American post-metal band Isis, released on September 16, 2002 by Ipecac Recordings.[1]
On July 23, 2006, Isis performed Oceanic in its entirety at KOKO, Camden Town, London as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties curated Don't Look Back series.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Themes
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (January 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
The album reintroduces the water and female themes of past releases the Red Sea and Celestial through a story: A man at the brink of emotional numbness finds a female counterpart who completes him ("The Beginning and the End," "False Light"). However, he soon finds that she has had a long-term incestuous relationship ("Maritime," "Weight;" "a day, it changes everything") with her brother ("Hym," "The Other"). This drives him to lose all hope, and he commits suicide through drowning ("from sinking sands, he stepped into light's embrace").
The entire story is described by frontman Aaron Turner in a radio interview and in more nebulous terms in the album's booklet.[3]
It could be postulated that Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass offered some inspiration to the band. This is present in the naturalistic theme of the album, and the fact that the title of the opening track, "The Beginning and the End", is a phrase used twice - on lines 30 and 31.
[edit] Reception
Its style marks a distinct departure from their previous sound; up until this point, Isis had been characterised by crushing, distorted guitars and a coarse, unforgiving tone. With this album came the introduction of lengthy periods of clean guitar, large amounts of ambient noise and female vocals; a notable post-rock influence, first hinted at on SGNL>05 and Celestial. As one reviewer notes, the album is in "a place somewhere between metal and hardcore and post-rock, a place where crunching guitars and hoarse, tuneless vocals and slow spaciness all converge and create something big and mean and delightful".[4] The change of style proved trying for some long-standing fans, but beneficial in garnering a greater fanbase and the Neurosis-Godflesh comparisons began to weaken. The eschewing of sludgecore elements, and increased focus on atmospherics and post-rock elements whilst still retaining metal and hardcore elements led to the album being labelled by many as post-metal, and essentially as being the genre's progenitor.[5] Some critics attribute it to having truly formed the genre, out of a previously nebulous definition. This leaning, in the direction of post-rock, was greeted with great critical acclaim; the presence of female vocals proved popular with many reviewers, and songs featuring those vocals are generally seen as stand-outs. Those songs include "The Beginning and the End", "Carry" and "Weight", all of which feature Maria Christopher of 27.
Oceanic was named Terrorizer's number one album of 2002 (see 2002 in music), and in Drowned in Sound's "Our 66" introspective of the best albums of the past six years, it placed fifth.[6] It was greeted with great critical acclaim from not only niche magazines, but also from popular music reviewers, such as allmusic, and Rock Sound, who also named it record of the year. In some ways, this release pushed Isis to the fore of their genre, and enabled them to branch out to new fans.[7] Some fans and critics will point out that the album had a notable influence on the metal/post-rock scene in the years following. In 2004, Cult of Luna released Salvation; taking a similar stylistic departure from previous LPs Cult of Luna and The Beyond as Oceanic took from preceding albums SGNL>05 and Celestial. The band itself cites Isis as an influence, and a review in Terrorizer posits that Oceanic covered "fairly similar aquatic terrain" as their release Salvation.[8] Other bands, such as Berlin's The Ocean Collective can also be said to draw on the dynamics of this album.
[edit] Remixes
The album was remixed in a series of four vinyl EPs, named Oceanic Remixes/Interpretations Volumes I-IV and released on Robotic Empire Records in 2004 and 2005. Contributors included Mike Patton, Venetian Snares and Justin Broadrick. These tracks, and an additional track by Tim Hecker, were compiled into a two-CD release on Hydra Head Records, entitled Oceanic: Remixes & Reinterpretations.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Isis.
- "The Beginning and the End" – 8:02
- "The Other" – 7:15
- "False Light" – 7:42
- "Carry" – 6:48 (sample ))
- "-" – 2:05
- "Maritime" – 3:03
- "Weight" – 10:46
- "From Sinking" – 8:24
- "Hym" – 9:13
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Band members
- Jeff Caxide – bass guitar
- Aaron Harris – drums
- Michael Gallagher – guitar
- Bryant Clifford Meyer – electronics, guitar, vocals on the first section of "Hym"
- Aaron Turner – vocals, guitar, album art and layout
[edit] Other personnel
- Matt Bayles – audio engineering, audio mixing and production
- Mélanie Benoit – album photography
- Ed Brooks – mastering
- Maria Christopher of 27 – vocals on "The Beginning and the End", "Weight" and "Carry"
- Jason Hellmann – album photography
- Ayal Naor of 27 – additional instrumentation on "The Beginning and the End" and "Weight"
[edit] References
- ^ Ipecac Recordings - Isis. Ipecac Recordings. Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
- ^ Diver, Mike (2006-04-03). Literally OMG: Isis to play Oceanic in London. Drowned in Sound. Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
- ^ Kelly, Scott (2006). The Show. Combat Music Radio. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
- ^ Wu, Brandon. Review of Oceanic. Ground and Sky. Retrieved on November 9, 2006.
- ^ Thompson, Ed. Review of In the Absence of Truth. IGN. Retrieved on December 18, 2006.
- ^ Diver, Mike. DiS is 6: Our 66, the top six. Drowned in Sound. Retrieved on January 2, 2007.
- ^ Southern Records. "Isis > Biography". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-11-11.
- ^ Martin, Jim. Review of Salvation. Terrorizer issue 124, October 2004. p. 68.
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