Lovingly pinched from Sea of Tranquility: Isis is one that harder to categorize bands I’ve reviewed. With every release they evolved and altered their sound. Generally lumped in with post-rock /post-metal and hardcore metal bands, they do draw from those influences while still adding their own stamp. Live V is the final album in a series of live albums released between 2004 and 2009.
This recording covers a performance of the album Oceanic in it’s entirety. Oceanic is noted in their catalog for introducing a lot of ambiance and cleaner, mellower moments to their brutal metal side. It’s an often jarring mix, like rolling out of your feather bed onto a floor covered in broken glass.
The music mix and production is dense and balanced in both the heavy, sludgy moments and in the cleaner passages. Pretty good for a soundboard recording and not a live multitrack session. The vocals are delivered in mostly a guttural growl and something of a wail. Isis is a fairly new band to me, and the vocals take the most getting used to. More or less fitting for the music, but they are a little low in the mix. The lyrics are also almost impossible to decipher, which is too bad. The album tells a story and I think the lyrics are quite good.
Continue reading: Review: “Isis: Live V” – Sea of Tranquility – The Web Destination for Progressive Music!.
Tags: Album of the day, isis, Live V, Oceanic, post rock, Sea of Tranquility, Sean Gill
This entry was posted on Friday, September 16th, 2011 at 1:21 pm and is filed under 2011, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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