Photo by Alee Karim
. . .
Isis are breaking up. I feel like I’m writing yet another obituary. The soon-to-be-deceased is not a person, but it’s very much an animate entity. It grew up and changed directions a few times. That disappointed some but made many more happy. Its logo grew iconic. It did things on its own terms.
I discovered Isis’ discography – the prime years, anyway, 1998 to 2004 – nearly all at once. Thus, I forget which was my first Isis record. But I vividly remember my first impressions of each one. The Mosquito Control and The Red Sea EP’s blew me away with their intensity. Celestial, SGNL>05, Oceanic, the Oceanic remixes, and Panopticon were all “interesting”. They were all different, but a line clearly ran though them. The involvement of Justin Broadrick at times didn’t hurt. In this age of MP3’s, Isis may be one of the last bands whose physical releases were events.
Up until 2002’s Oceanic, Isis were about evolution. Afterwards, they were about refinement. For me, that refinement peaked with my favorite Isis song, “In Fiction”, from Panopticon. It’s a perfect expression of the slowly-building-to-a-peak approach that countless bands have copied since. The song’s video was of a piece with Panopticon’s surveillance theme.
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Then Isis started losing their unity. Their next two albums, In the Absence of Truth and Wavering Radiant, were bland, though not without their moments. Side projects started popping up. Frontman Aaron Turner moved away from his bandmates in LA to Seattle. Energy was draining from the band.
So it’s just as well that Isis are stopping while they’re ahead. (See full statement here.) They’ll put out a final EP – it looks like my prediction here will be sort of true – and tie up loose ends. Then they will take their immense talents into the world as individuals. Isis will leave behind a legacy 99% of bands fail to achieve: a style of their own.
. . .
ISIS FINAL TOUR
with Jakob, Tombs
5/26 The Casbah – San Diego, CA
5/29 Wow Hall – Eugene, OR
5/30 Capitol Theatre – Olympia, WA
5/31 Rickshaw Theatre – Vancouver, BC
6/01 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
6/02 Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR
6/04 Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA
6/05 The Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA
with Melvins
6/12 Bonnaroo Festival – Manchester, TN
6/14 40 Watt Club – Athens, GA
6/16 9:30 Club – Washington, DC
6/17 Theater Of Living Arts (TLA) – Philadelphia, PA
6/18 Webster Hall – New York City, NY
6/19 Music Hall Of Williamsburg – Brooklyn, NY
6/20 Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA
6/21 Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA
with Cave In
6/22 Port City Music Hall – Portland, ME
6/23 Club Soda – Montreal, QC
. . .
I seem to be one of the only ones who prefers their later work. Anyways, I’m pissed that I’m missing their last tour.
What the fuck?! I discovered Isis a year ago and I’m still exploring their music, which I find amazing and very special. It’s a shame for me I didn’t discovered them before, and I’m very sorry they are breaking up now that I was getting more and more into them. Wavering Radiant is one of my dearest discoveries from 2009 and their gig in Madrid stands as one of the best I’ve ever attended, even considering the technical problems they had to face.
I don’t know any of their side projects, so maybe it’s a good moment to find about those. Let’s hope their farewell DVD, which seems pretty clear they are already preparing according to their statement on MySpace, stands as a proper testimony of their stage presence.
Good riddance.
I’ll drink to that.
Between this and Xasthur packing it in, 2010 could be a great year for metal.
I still like Celestial, although I never listen to it. But Isis will forever live on, even after their departure, in the thousands and thousands of clones that they spawned.
Now if only pelican would just give up already. Its not that these bands are bad, its just time to move on. Congrats to aaron turner for evolving and doing something besides boring the shit out of all us. Im just so sick of post-everything right now.
they will always hold a special place in my heart, well at least everything they did up til In the Absence of Good Songs, zing!
This sucks. Bands like Motley Crue and Godsmack continue to beat the dead horse, and great bands like Isis call it a day. No justice. Oh well, at least they put out a decent quantity of albums in their back catalogue before they left.
@ Heavy Street
That’s the point. They don’t want to tarnish their legacy like Motley Crue have done.
Good riddance.
@ Heavy Street – I haven’t liked a damn thing Godsmack has done, but even their AC/DC formula of wash/rinse/repeat is more tolerable than anything Isis has released.
@Kevin – Wow, what are you doing here if you’d rather listen to Godsmack than Isis? here let me help you, http://www.revolvermag.com, go there, it might be more your speed
sad news but not a total surprise…their Decibel cover story last year sort of hinted this was coming. I agree with Cosmo, Panopticon was their best/my favorite. Playing “So Did We” as I type.
I saw them early on at Gilman St. during a Sunday matinee with Candiria. They were really good but somewhere in recent years I’ve given up. It’s a combo of their music getting stale AND the boring ass bands they (and Pelican’t) have influenced. That and the gazillion limited edition, overprint bullshit that they & Hydrahead plays into.
isis were part of my favorite all time show. they were touring for celestial with a rejuvenated napalm death (enemy of the music biz era) and soilent green. isis too the stage as openers, didn’t say a damn word for 75 minutes and just rocked the fuck out. even broke out a theremin. immediately bought all their stuff. celestial and oceanic still remain my favorites because of that.
Awful, plodding music. What’s even sadder is that they inspired a whole slew of bands playing even more awful, plodding music. BFD.
Never seen ISIS live before. Wondering if I should go to their last Seattle show.
I lived in Western Mass, then Boston during their creative peak, and coincidentally (consequently?) those were the years I fell into heavy music. The fascinating thing about Isis at that stage… every show I saw presented an entirely new band, even though the lineups were basically the same (once the first keyboardist left). But what made it so special… they felt fully formed in each incarnation, for better or worse. Live shows around Mosquito Control’s release established them as something entirely new, taking that Neurosis vibe (who were the only comparison at the time) and making it much more punishing. I remember my first time seeing them was at a basement of a rec center at Umass Amherst… alongside Orchid, Drowningman, and Cave In (a few months prior to their Creative Eclipses EP). Isis stole the show, easily.
>Awful, plodding music. What’s even sadder is that they inspired a whole slew of bands playing even more awful, plodding music. BFD.
First Law of Iommi: sooner or later, you must bring the thunder. That means riffs.
Second Law: Mustache rides are free.
Yay, more time in the day for hipsters to obsess on whatever’s cool this week in not liking whats cool…pretty soon Voegtlin will be out of a job picking on mid-level mediocrity in favor of no-level lameness!
Whatever.
These dudes were great for a time, regardless of the gazillion imitators they’ve influenced. I don’t hear any of the cooler than thou set complaining about the googolplex of shitty Darkthrone imitators, though I understand the Village Voice has to pay these folks for something…though I’ll be damned if I(or anyone outside of Williamsburg)knows what that is!
Eh.
Love ‘em. And they were definitely done saying what they said. Good run.
Don’t mind if I join in on this hate parade too. Booooooooooooring.
I’ve seen them a couple times and they are one of the most moving live bands I have ever seen. Too bad they’re not swinging through Chicago on their way out..