[forelander]

Does any one like isis or pelican? I find them to be fucking unreal, every song is like a massive journey and same goes for the albums. I'd be more than happy to give people recommendations if they're interested but last day of winter by pelican and relocation swarm by isis are pretty damn good. relocation swarm is off isis' first album, so if you're looking for something a little on the lighter side the entire oceanic album from isis is amazing, particularly the song carry.

Isis are also easy to play on the old 7 string so that's a plus.

[NDG]

Isis is a great band.

They remind me of Opeth and Agalloch a bit (with the frequent contrast of distorted and clean sounds).

Edit:

Same with Pelican.

'The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw' is a cool album and a cool album name.

[forelander]

everyone else's loss I guess. I can't anyone enough to get into these bands. They're absolutely amazing.

[Kotex]

I dig Isis. I haven't heard much from them (yet) but I like what I've heard so far.

[steve777]

Isis are amazing! I cannot wait to see them with Tool.

[DDDorian]

Word is that Isis might be supporting Tool here in Australia too. If all their shows hadn't sold out in 0.765474 seconds it might actually mean something, heh.

[Pauly]

Could anyone elaborate on both these bands, I mean the sort of music they put out? Terrorizer always rave on about both of them and other bands like Neurosis, but I've never really checked them out. Are they like soundscapey within a metal context, or proggy, or post-hardcore (gay term!) or what lol?

[Mastodon]

I like Pelican, don't think I've ever heard anything by Isis though.

Pelican's wiki:

The secretive instrumental art metal outfit Pelican was formed in Chicago by guitarists Trevor de Brauw and Laurent Lebec, with bassist Larry Herweg and his sibling drummer, Bryan. Owing a great debt to pioneering forefathers Neurosis, and often compared to Boston's nearly as influential Isis (minus the vocals, naturally), Pelican coincidentally also found a home at Isis mastermind Aaron Turner's Hydra Head Records. After making their debut with an eponymous four-song EP in 2003, Pelican expanded their epic, otherworldly trance-metal to continent-sized movements with 2004's critically acclaimed Australasia album.

Pelican is a 4-piece instrumental/post-rock/metal band hailing from Chicago. At the forefront of a musical movement many are dubbing "post-metal", begun by bands such as Neurosis and Godflesh, Pelican are known for their dense combinations of different melodies and extended track lengths. Their distinctive sound draws from doom metal as well as post-rock and many other influences. They are signed to Hydra Head Records, along with alternative rock band Cave In.
Band members

Their Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/pelican

Their Homepage: http://hydrahead.tortugarecordings.com/pelican/

[steve777]

Originally Posted by pauly-bobs

Could anyone elaborate on both these bands, I mean the sort of music they put out? Terrorizer always rave on about both of them and other bands like Neurosis, but I've never really checked them out. Are they like soundscapey within a metal context, or proggy, or post-hardcore (gay term!) or what lol?

Here is the link for the Isis video, "In Fiction"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2e2Hp7NeXA

[forelander]

Generally they're sound scapey in a metal context as you put it I guess. That doesn't really do them justice though - everything is so epic and amazing. You lose yourself in the song/album without even realising it then sometime later you find yourself again and everythings changed on you almost behind your back, but you were there for the entire journey. Focussing on the subtlety of the songs always amazes me. The best Isis and pelican songs always build towards some monumental climax, and are almost hypnotic.

Some isis can get pretty heavy too amidst all this. Lately they're slightly more mellow though. Pelican are somewhere in the middle.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRa6rnibWowAs to the isis with tool thing in aus, I don't think it's gonna happen and I sure hope not since I don't have tickets to tool. Everything from them I've read said "later in the year" and I would expect that if they were gonna be here with tool we would've heard about it before tickets were on sale. If it is the case I pray they do some stand alone shows.

Here's "the last day of winter" by pelican. sounds not great but it's alright. There's another video of it split into two parts, that's link 2 and 3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slWXAopfQYU - whole song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl5FBxWwC9Y - last day of winter part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRa6rnibWow - last day of winter part 2

enjoy.

[Mastodon]

Yeah, they're not something you pop in for a "hit" of music or anything like that.

It's something you sit down and do work to, or go on a long drive with. It's very chill, but still very interesting.

[steve777]

Originally Posted by Mastodon

Yeah, they're not something you pop in for a "hit" of music or anything like that.

It's something you sit down and do work to, or go on a long drive with. It's very chill, but still very interesting.

Definately. Isis are fantastic for taking a nice long ride just a little before sunset, or at night. As far as their music, their is a lot of dimension, texture, and it can go from introspective to monolithic in a heartbeat. You can be basking in some trippy, Flodian type of groove and then all of sudden they just fucking pummel you. I love it!

If you really dig stuff like Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Sigur Ros, Ocean Machine, and Tool, you should be able to get a lot of enjoyment out of their stuff.

[Pauly]

Ta for that guys. *Thumbs up*

[Drew]

Isis kicks ass. Thanks for the intro.

Worth a nod in this context - one of my favorite bands, Floater. They don't have too much of their stuff I really like on youtube, but I found a pretty good vid of one of the sections of "Peter the Destroyer" off their first, Sink. The video gets briefly fucked up halfway through, and it's kind of a downer that they come in when they do because it's at the VERY end of a gorgeous tranced-out section before they start getting heavy again, but oh well... Thhis track's the conceptual centerpoint of the album, and while not one of my favorites in the studio, the version on their live album (I think this is the same performance) is obscenely good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsvHN_jE8Ok

[Harry]

Old thread I know, but I wasn't around in 2006.
I wanted to show some love for them.
When I'm not in the mood for in-your-face metal with solos and want something much more minimalistic and something to chill out too, Pelican and Isis are two bands I can turn too.
I've got most of Pelican's discography, and my favorite of the bunch would have to be The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw. It's an amazing journey and represents a wider emotional range than anything they did prior to that IMO.

[petereanima]

if you are into this kindof music, i can recommend some bands:

Cult Of Luna: http://www.myspace.com/cultofluna

Omega Massif (HIGHLY recommended...not becasue they are "friends" of mine, but because they rule): http://www.myspace.com/omegamassif

A Storm Of Light: http://www.myspace.com/astormoflight

Switchblade: http://www.myspace.com/switchblade

Mount Logan: http://www.myspace.com/mountlogan

Breach: http://www.myspace.com/sphincterani

Mouth Of The Architect: http://www.myspace.com/mouthofthearchitect

Ocoai: http://www.myspace.com/ocoai

Head Of The Taurus: http://www.myspace.com/headofthetaurus

Toundra: http://www.myspace.com/toundraband

Grails: http://www.myspace.com/grailsongs

Red Sparowes: http://www.myspace.com/redsparowes

[intereo_luuk]

I like Isis and Pelican too..

And Russian Circles: http://www.myspace.com/russiancircles

[forelander]

Yay, I have since seen Isis live! And Pelican's new album "City of Echoes" is quite awesome too. Thanks for the recommendations Peter, I'll give them a listen when its not 1 am and I've got more time.

[Mr. S]

I've got one song by Isis on my computer that a mate sent me ages ago, its bloody brilliant, I think its about time I got some more, any recomendations for albums to get?

[Harry]

Originally Posted by forelander

Yay, I have since seen Isis live! And Pelican's new album "City of Echoes" is quite awesome too. Thanks for the recommendations Peter, I'll give them a listen when its not 1 am and I've got more time.

I liked City Of Echoes, but that might because I am a fan of Post Rock as well as Post Metal.
It was a big change for Pelican in their sound, but you could still hear it was the same band in the way the guitarists played.

The problem for some people was, it was too different from their previous offerings and it lost the sludge element of their and was overall less post metal.

[Ze Kink]

I like all the atmospheric sludge/post-metal stuff too. I'll post some recommendations when I get home, I know some stuff that hasn't been mentioned here yet.

I've listened to Isis for a few years now, they're really awesome, and perhaps even better live, check them out if you can. The vocals aren't very good though, but they do their job. Panopticon is also one of the best albums I own.

[elrrek]

I find Isis and Pelican to be very heavily over-rated and I can't believe anyone would suggest that pelican are an amazing live band, on every occasion I have seen them they have bored me almost to tears.

Probably too "heavy" than most people who are into "post metal" but I find Amenra (Amenra Myspace considerably better than the most other bands lumped into this genre, their "Msss III" record is phenomenal. Jesu are also way more to my liking.

The Ocean are also worth checking out and are supporting Cynic and Opeth later this year in Europe.

[Harry]

Originally Posted by Ze Kink

I like all the atmospheric sludge/post-metal stuff too. I'll post some recommendations when I get home, I know some stuff that hasn't been mentioned here yet.

I've listened to Isis for a few years now, they're really awesome, and perhaps even better live, check them out if you can. The vocals aren't very good though, but they do their job. Panopticon is also one of the best albums I own.

I love Panopticon too?

What did you think of In The Absence Of Truth?
It divided some fans, that's for sure.

[Ze Kink]

Originally Posted by HughesJB4

I love Panopticon too?

What did you think of In The Absence Of Truth?
It divided some fans, that's for sure.

I like it, but I don't listen to it very often. I don't know why.

Here's some bands to check out:
-Jesu
-Mare
-Red Sparowes
-Rosetta
-Battle of Mice
-Callisto - though I don't like the christian aspect
-Intronaut - well, I guess it's "progressive sludge" instead of post-metal, but they're awesome
-The Ocean
-Knut
-Giant Squid
-Nadja
-Ghost Brigade - They're pretty new, I've only seen them live once, and they were a nice surprise

Some that were mentioned already:
-Neurosis
-Cult of Luna
-Russian Circles

I really don't like Pelican either. Finding post-metal made me check out post-rock too, and I'm more into post-rock actually. I'm pretty sure it's because there aren't that many good post-metal bands around yet.

[dissident]

great stuff! The uks great for post metal inspired bands at the moment. Check out these guys MySpace.com - MANATEES - UK - Progressive / Rock - www.myspace.com/manateetheband . Amazing live.