Isis is a band I have been meaning to post for a while, seeing them referenced frequently as influencing bands such as Russian Circles and Pelican, and they interestingly ended the band before it repetitive, claiming that they accomplished all that they wanted to accomplish. Bravo, it is rare that anyone has enough sense to leave on the top of their game, most choosing an exit more akin to Whitney Houston’s inglorious gurgle.
However, come to find out, I’m not a big fan of Isis. The vocals. The vocals don’t fit the music, the pitch and tone just don’t seem right, it kinda ruins it for me. This album is also citied by Wiki as contributing to the development of post-metal, which we all could have done without.
Jangly, with stupid post-metal vocals and oddly placed slow parts composed as deep metallic interludes come across as lame, implying someone spent too much time listening to Power Metal in mom’s basement. A score of 74%, and part of that rests on my faith in other people loving this and not so much it appealing to me. This album starts exploring some great sounds but wanders off into some totally different riff or plunges into weird vocals that wouldn’t have fit the song thirty seconds before. Too much compressed into one album.
Stone of the Swamp - front porch conversations on music 