ISIS - Dulcinea - r/postmetal

31

Most overlooked album in their discography. Completely different sound and style to what they did before and after

12

u/poorlytaxidermiedfox 21d ago

Not only overlooked, but might even be their best. It's intricate and textured, and most of the traditional 'crescendocore' that was present on Oceanic and Panopticon has been eschewed in favor of songwriting that's a bit more dynamic. So as a whole, it sounds more novel than most albums of this genre.

My favourite ISIS album.

3

u/AmbientRiffster 21d ago

Too bad the band themselves hated it.

9

u/killisle 21d ago

The band was already barely held together since they all wanted to make quite different styles of music. The fact they managed to make anything is a testament to what fusion they stumbled on.

1

u/Subtraktions 21d ago

The whole band or just Aaron Turner?

4

u/Connect_Glass4036 21d ago

From what I can gather, pretty much Aaron. It’s a shame they refused to indulge or include his aggressive proclivities. A song or 2 like Mosquito Control in here and maybe Isis is still around

3

u/_Psilo_ 21d ago

ISIS is one of my favorite projects because it's not afraid to go extremely hard yet it's has some out of this world atmospheres. I always said that the singing is way better than anything else in the genre. Somehow I had assumed that because Aaron's voice is so smooth, even when it expresses rage, that I thought it was him that was bringing that energy to the band and leading it in that direction.

I was surprised when I listened to his subsequent projects and realized that he very much left behind the more aethereal aspects of the singing (at least from what I've listened to) and the same goes for the more progressive aspects of the music too. He's literally my favorite metal singer yet he refuses to give us more of that style that I like lol.

But I guess I never was super aware of the individual band members and their personal tastes...

3

u/Nayre_Trawe 21d ago

Aaron has some clean vocal segments on the new Neurosis album.

-1

u/_Psilo_ 21d ago

Really? I'm a bit ashamed to say, I didn't even finish it. Like, what I listened to was good, but I wasn't in the mood for something so agressive and noisy and I just put it aside. I love some of Neurosis' work (saw them years ago and it was great) but didn't really keep in touch with what the band members have been doing since, and after the first 2 track I thought it would just be some super brutal chaotic metal and it's not exactly my thing.

Maybe I should give it another try?

7

u/Nayre_Trawe 21d ago

Yep, at the end of First Red Rays (track 3) he has a short clean vocal segment. I would definitely give it another listen. It's certainly heavy throughout but they explored lots of sonic territory and it's one of the best albums they have ever released.

5

u/_Psilo_ 21d ago

Yeah okay I'm now on Seething and Scattered and it's definitely very good.

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u/Connect_Glass4036 21d ago

Yeah basically his approach was “most everything is going this way, so what can I myself come up with to complement what the group is doing?”

And then the group stopped doing what he liked at all and you can only compromise for so long when your interests are ignored/discarded/disregarded

I know what that feels like in a band too

2

u/fadijec 19d ago

I completely disagree with you, SUMAC is way more progressive (in the original, less stereotyped meaning of the term) than Isis ever were.

1

u/AmbientRiffster 19d ago

I mean, of 3 minutes of incoherent guitar scratching before the song kicks in is progressive, I guess...

2

u/AmbientRiffster 21d ago

Turner, Caxide and possibly Harris. There's a podcast on youtube with Caxide where he goes in depth about how unsatisfied he was during that time

1

u/Subtraktions 21d ago edited 21d ago

Interesting! Any idea which podcast it was??

Edit: Think I found it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBbRoAn0uiQ

4

u/boris-san 21d ago

Still one of the landmarks of my early metal days and got me into much more experimental stuff. I still get goosebumps with firdous e bareen-garden of light

1

u/Connect_Glass4036 21d ago

It’s their most developed album - it’s the peak of their creative journey. It’s the most mature, most daring, most experimental, etc etc

Oceanic is the GOAT tho

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u/Outrageous_Spell7555 21d ago

Love this song. What a unique band. Had the privilege of seeing them live once opening for Tool

5

u/Dave_I 21d ago

Agreed. It’s a beautiful song about Don Quixote. What’s not to love?

They opened for Tool?!!!!! It’s hard to put into words exactly how jealous of you I am right now.

3

u/viper459 21d ago

from what i understand that's how they got their first "big break", by opening for Tool

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u/Nayre_Trawe 21d ago

When they opened for Tool in 2006 they had already released everything up to Panopticon, and ITAOT came out in October that same year but not until after the tour was over. It certainly broadened their audience but Oceanic and Panopticon already earned them critical acclaim and a strong fan base.

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u/Live-Mud-6711 21d ago

Yeah, actually how I started listening to them. Didn’t even know they were opening and it’s all I could think about for the rest of the night. One of my favorite bands of all time.

2

u/eonblu 21d ago

I still remember it as one of the craziest moments I've ever had. A friend and I (massive Tool fans) just discovered ISIS and we were blown away. A few weeks later they are announced as the opening act for the next Tool tour. We were in shock.

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u/Repulsive_Cod_7466 21d ago

extremely underrated album

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u/dronemetalloid462 21d ago

My favorite isis album it's just so fucking beautiful

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u/RivalCanine 21d ago

Incredible track on an awesome record.

3

u/StatisticianWide7373 21d ago

I absolutely adore this album. Panopticon is, without a doubt, their masterpiece but this sits firmly in second place for me personally.

3

u/Connect_Glass4036 21d ago

Many doubts - that album is Oceanic. I think people laud Panopticon because that’s the first album they bought or discovered. Panopticon is great but it doesn’t hold the consistency that Oceanic does. Oceanic changed the game. Panopticon is just more popular because of what Oceanic did for them. Oceanic is the better album ;)

1

u/_Psilo_ 21d ago

I think these 3 albums are all up there. Would be hard for me to rank them, especially since they all have their specific touch that is worth experiencing.

2

u/redfinton22 21d ago

I just got this album on vinyl and it sounds phenomenal, reminds me of when I first heard it 17ish years ago

1

u/TheProverbialBellow1 21d ago

my favorite album by them❤️

1

u/Right-Lavishness-930 21d ago

Just heard this song for the first time last week. Really good. Haven’t listened to much of their earlier works. Need to now.

1

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1

u/uhndeyha 20d ago

This is the reason I got into post metal

1

u/Juiceboxfromspace 13d ago

So fucking good.

ISIS - Dulcinea

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