Sgnl-05

Isis (Rock) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 20, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Neurot Recordings
• ASIN: B000057FTT
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,283 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Boston's remarkable five-piece band Isis answers the long-standing call for a more metallic musical counterpart to Slint and For Carnation, and succeeds without holding back on the metal or playing too bluntly to finesse the art-rock. The roaring opener, "SGNL>05 (Final Transmission)," is a monumental waltz that flickers between taut Shellac-style riffing and big monolithic Slayer triplets, glued together by the dank, black metal touches of later Darkthrone. "Divine Mother (The Tower Crumbles)" is like Master of Puppets-era Metallica covering Jesus Lizard, two of the original influences of Slint metal. "Beneath Flow" is a brief, mysterious, clanking exploration that leads into the tempered doomscape of "Constructing Towers," the powerful orchestral centerpiece of SGNL>05. In the midst of turning melancholy, and ambling into a very original investigation of heaviness, Isis are light on emotional frames of reference, but a pretty and poised remix of "Celestial (Signal Fills the Void)" by Justin Broadrick of Godflesh saves the day, organizing the battering drums, acres of guitar, and voices into a repetitive drone-metal version of a hit single. --Ian Christe

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Isis' Best EP, September 29, 2004

By 

IcemanJ (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sgnl-05 (Audio CD)

I believe this is the finest EP by this amazingly innovative band. It contains 4 real songs and an intro. It is a great addition or extension of "Celestial" so if you like that, you're sure to enjoy this. And it is 35 minutes long, which is as long as some bands' full albums.

The first track is an intro, and sounds similar to Celestial's intro. Then The first real song goes on starts with a crushing riff and soon enough the vocals appear. The song continutes for a while as a sluggish, crunchy, standard Isis song, then about halfway through it; it breaks down into a clean, ominous melodic riff, something I wasn't expecting when listening for the first time, very nice refreshing change in direction in the song. It is definately one of their most solid songs overall. "Beneath Below" is a shorter, ambient track with a pummeling bass drum and very low frequency keyboard playing, it's actually not anything special. "Constructing Towers" starts off slowly with a quiet chord being strummed, then progresses on, picking up pace towards the end, until it finally deconstructs into swirling frequencies.

"Celestial (Signal Fills the Void)" is a remix of "Celestial (The Tower)," but I didn't even recognize it was a remix. This is probably the most interesting song, with ambient additions of keyboards, distant screams, and industrial noises to the rhythmic metallic chaos. This song `regresses' and slowly becomes more empty towards the end of its 10 minute duration, however adding more ethereal sounding keyboards, and finally breaking down into a single chord. It's definitely one of my top favorite Isis songs.

Be sure to check out their full length albums first, especially "Panopticon," the newest full length, which will be coming out 3 weeks from the time I wrote this. I can't wait to hear what they've done this time.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great companion CD, July 16, 2003

By 

FormerZygote "Opinion" (Right Here, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sgnl-05 (Audio CD)

Isis's "Celestial" rocked with a heavy and awesome power, they continued that CD with this one and it is a very rewarding follow up/continuation. Isis are an ever developing band and better with every CD. Buy thier incredible album "Oceanic" which is thier best album and only that this album is in the shadow of "Oceanic" just slightly it gets its 4 star rating... still this and its prelude "Celestial" are awesome.
If you dont know Neurosis try them as well they are awesome and a large inspiration to Isis.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Instrumental Masterpiece, June 20, 2001

By 

Frankie Tran (Windsor, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sgnl-05 (Audio CD)

Isis is one amazing piece of work. Yes, I will describe Isis as a "instrumental band" since when there are vocals, there are very little. The focus here on the cd "SGNL > 05 is not the vocals, but the instruments themselves. I've heard one comparison of this band to "Neurosis", and I can honestly see the similarities. Isis's songs are dark, slow, chuggy, crunchy, artsy and drawn out. But see thats what makes this CD so beautiful. It forces you to take the notes, the instruments, and hear them as the lyrics. The pounding drums, the beautiful guitar work, low bass lines, all substitute for words. Notes are the words on this CD. This CD is an underground masterpiece, pick it up while its still a secret....