ISIS - Discography

 ISIS is another very well-known band in the avant-garde music community, and also very different from what Neurosis sounds like, much more atmospheric and less abrasive, with more progressive elements. Like Neurosis, their early work as more violent, and they evolved their sound in a lighter way.

The band was created in 1997 by four friends out of dissatisfaction with their other band experiences. Aaron Turner (guitar and vocals and also owner of Hydra Head Records), Jeff Caxide (bass), Chris Mereschuk (electronics/vocals) and Aaron Harris (drums) formed  the original line-up, but it has suffered some changes even before the release of their debut. Randy Larsen was hired as a guitarist but later replaced by Michael Gallagher. The drummer left in the same year (1998) and was replaced by Jay Randall, who was replaced by Briant Clifford Meyer shortly after. The band remained with this line-up until 2010, when it disbanded.

Ever since their formation, the band seeked to push the boundaries of heavy music, and that is very noticeable in the experimentation the band would do in every album. They treat music as a piece of art, in the words of vocalist Turner, "the songwriting and the artwork come from the same place". ISIS is also known for their concept albums, with their themes drawing from literary works such as House of Leaves, Labyrinths and Don Quixote. The philosopher Jeremy Bentham has also influenced on the band's themes.

 Panopticon is widely regarded as ISIS's best work, followed closely by Oceanic, and should be the listener's starting point. After you've listened to both, try out In the Absence of Truth, and after that, the other two records. It's little problem to get into their discography actually, since it's very small and every album sounds like a progression of the previous work.

2000 - Celestial
Escape Artist Records

 
1 - SGNL>01
2 - Celestial (the Tower)
3 - Glisten
4 - Swarm Reigns (Down)
5 - SGNL>02
6 - Deconstructing Towers
7 - SGNL>03
8 - Collapse and Crush
9 - C.F.T. (New Circuitry and Continued Evolution
10 - Gentle Time
11 - SGNL>04 (End Transmission)

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2002 - Oceanic
Ipecac Recordings
 
1 - The Beginning and the End
2 - The Other
3 - False Light
4 - Carry
5 - -
6 - Maritime
7 - Weight
8 - From Sinking
9 - Hym

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2004 - Panopticon
Ipecac Recordings
  
1 - So Did We
2 - Backlit
3 - In Fiction
4 - Wills Dissolve
5 - Syndic Calls
6 - Altered Course
7 - Grinning Mouths

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2006 - In the Absence of Truth
Ipecac recordings

1 - Wrists of Kings
2 - Not in Rivers, But in Drops
3 - Dulcinea
4 - Over Root and Thorn
5 - 1.000 Shards
6 - All Out of Time, All Into Space
7 - Holy Tears
8 - Firdous e Bareen
9 - Garden of Light

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2009 - Wavering Radiant
Ipecac Recordings
  1 - Hall of the Dead
2 - Ghost Key
3 - Hand of the Host
4 - Wavering Radiant
5 - Stone to Wake a Serpent
6 - 20 Minutes / 40 Years
7 - Threshold of Transformation

Bonus tracks:

1 - Way Through Woven Branches

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Lasse Stewart.