Isis
Oceanic

THE REVIEW

The Isis are a band that needs no introduction. A leading figure in post-hardcore, this Boston quintet had already made a name for themselves with both critics and audiences with their excellent self-produced Celestial. But 2001 is the year of their breakthrough: they move to the Ipecac of the brilliant Mike Patton and release the superb Oceanic, an album that inevitably establishes them as one of the greatest novelties in today's musical panorama.

Oceanic is a stunning work, a record that, in just 9 tracks, masterfully fuses moments of pure violence with others that are ethereal, elongated, and strongly inspired by psychedelia and an "atmospheric" nature. It kicks off with the magnificent single "The Beginning Of The End," followed by the sudden and piercing explosions of "The Other" and "False Light" and "Carry," with its magnificent and lengthy introduction with a vaguely ambient flavor. Track 5, a magnificent untitled interlude, breaks the album in half. After the unease of the first part, one encounters two pieces, "Maritime" and the stunning instrumental "Weight," that cradle us between sounds that reveal the band's more psychedelic and sophisticated roots, only to face, in the last two songs, "From Sinking" and "Hym," new devastating bursts of violence. These are the Isis, take it or leave it. Listening to their music, and particularly this magnificent album, it's almost like collapsing into the extreme abysses, only to unexpectedly soar, flying over that ocean of despair that is life itself.

The recent Panopticon, again released via Ipecac, seems to have confirmed their immense abilities unveiled with Celestial and Oceanic: something that can only please all admirers of a band like Isis, among the most original in the contemporary music scene. A band, in short, that now seems to reconcile critical and public success equally, continuing not to disappoint anyone, and Oceanic is tangible proof of that. A must-have and support.