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ISIS, "Oceanic"
The stuttering jagged rhythms of the buzzing guitars set up a hypnotic rhythm and then suddenly, the first screams of a totally abstracted rage come from the new Isis disc's opening track, "The Beginning and the End". Straight off, an impressive start. One of the recent spate of signings to Ipecac Records, Isis have been around for a while, though not in as high-profile a setting. Instead they've been building a fanbase slowly.
Their sound is often described as heavy metal ambient, which can be summed up like this: vocals = heavy metal, instruments = post-rock ambience. Instrumentally, they're pretty straightforward: guitar, bass, drums and a few synth-y noises every now and again, and on top, a raging voice bellowing almost unintelligible lyrics. The combination works really well, better than one would maybe expect, with the intense emotion behind the vocals brought into a sharp contrast by the head-nodding rock. The liner notes themselves have a few of the lyrics transcribed, although it's not word for word, and the packaging is very well done, if a bit plain. Although the intensity of the delivery of the vocals conveys a sense of conviction behind their intent, the lyrics themselves and the very unintelligible quality of them gives them a cold feeling, with the steady washing of the guitars and drums' pounding behind them, make the record's title seem less pretentious and more like just a descriptive term. Because of the vocals, ISIS will no doubt be tossed off as just heavy metal, but there's a depth to the music—vocals included—that goes beyond common aggro-"ooh I'm angry at daddy" metal. It's good, and it has it's moments of space-rock-ness that I think would appeal to more than a few brainwashed readers (especially the almost-vocal-less "Weight", if you're particularly turned off by the vocals).
 
