Customer Reviews

Mosquito Control

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great, super-raw, super-heavy EP (I think their first release besides the demo?). It is so much more chaotic then what Isis would eventually evolve into. If you have, say Oceanic and want to hear what a heavier, deadlier Isis would sound like, this is it.

The first song, "Poison Eggs" is one of the best Isis songs there is. It starts off with a very minimal melodic melody, slowly adds percussion and a strange radar-like noise for a while, slowly progresses, until the ultra-heavy guitar riffing chaos appears, and the enraged mosquito-king vocals erupt, shaking the hive to bits. These vocals are really rough, just like the music, but this song is great. It becomes even more frantic towards the end, and finally stops abruptly with a unique distorted radio frequency noise for a few seconds.

"Life Under the Swatter" has extremely fast riffing, as the mosquitoes dodge the furious exterminators and swarm around him and eat him alive. But if you look deeper you can still hear the subtle melodies and percussion that would later develop more into Isis' sound.

"Hive Destruction" starts off with a terrifying, yet softer melody and then guitars suddenly rip through it for an even more frightening sound. "Relocation Swarm" starts with a suspenseful percussion and then contains strange, close-by sounding vocals and samples that are adrenaline-pumping torture to the ears. This song really drags on after a while and after 7 minutes (it's almost 12 minutes long) it is just samples of screaming and droning guitar noises, this is why I gave it 4 stars.

If you're new to Isis, this is probably a BAD introduction to them. You might like their heavier side compared to their newer full-lengths, but in that case, you'll only really like this and the Red Sea, both 20-something minute EPs. Like I said already, if you already have their newer albums, this is great also but obviously very different. Isis have only begun to showcase their true aesthetic innovation.

PANOPTICON. October 19th 2004. It's right around the corner now and I have a feeling this will be their best album yet.

This is the heaviest recording you will ever hear in your entire life. Whether you like that sort of thing, well, that's up to you ;)

Though this is actually remixed from the original release of this CD, I can guarantee that you will NEVER hear guitars heavier than on this record. EVER.

If you have any of Isis' later stuff, this is quite a bit different; though people liken this to Neurosis, the vocals are more in the realm of grindcore (and much different than on Celestial or Oceanic), and the guitars are 10x heavier.

Did I mention this is the heaviest CD you'll ever hear?

I give it 4 out of 5 because, well, it's pretty one-dimensional and the songwriting isn't the greatest. Poison Eggs and Hive Destruction are pretty memorable, but the rest of the CD drones almost too much even for my tastes.

Since I reviewed the new Isis album Wavering Radiant, I figured I'd go back in time and give a review on Mosquito Control.

Now, anyone expecting to find what Isis is doing nowadays on this album is going to be in for a brutal surprise. This album came out when Isis was a lot angrier and drawing a large degree of influence from Neurosis and Godflesh. Translation, it's heavy as all get out. The guitars get a little too atonal at times and Aaron Turner was still discovering himself as a vocalist, but despite lacking the polish they've developed now, this album still managed to be raw, intense, chaotic, and powerful.

I recommend it for Isis fans, fans of modern American metal, and for people who have a sound system in their car, largely because the bass in this album is phenomenal.

Mosquito Control is probably the hardest, heaviest, and most sonic metal music you're likely to hear. The songs all mold into whats seems to be as one song and this is brialliantly and relentlessly done. The Bass is laid extremely deep and heavy, as are the guitars and a sort of awemonous and psychedelic undistorted guitar build starts its all in the opening of this CD. Isis are a slow moving train of headbanging mania on only the most cerebral level. Isis share the cerebral-ability with Neurosis(a similar and magnifacint band) and Tool: That weather the lyrics are heard or not the music is more then to be heard... it is to be experienced... as a background.. as a foreground and as a medium to open your mind.

Buy everything by Isis if ya like this.. especially 'Oceanic'. Not a song by them lacks in any way. In 'Oceanic' you see what Isis have become... as good as this 1998 EP is, through the last years Isis truely have evolved into something undefinable and beautiful and still super heavy!! Check out 'Oceanic' then 'Celestial' by Isis after you get this and rock on Isis...

Listening to this CD is like being trapped in a cave of fire and absolute darkness, where unspeakable terrors lie, and having the realization that there is no hope, and that the darkness will pass through you and leave nothing in its trail. In "Life Under the Swatter", when the tempo changes and the bass and vocals kick in, I am absolutely terrified. This CD is up there with "Celestial" and "Oceanic"(although they are more epic and groundbreaking, and should be listened to first), and, as an ISIS fan, I really don't know any better music than this. This is only one small part in what may be one of the greatest musical legacies of all time.