Lately, it has occurred to me that I really, really, really like metal. But not just any metal. Not the dirty, long haired, macho, thrashy metal the baggy-black-shirted kids in high school listen to, or the moshy, blast-beating, breakdowning metal the tight-pantsed kids with eyeliner listen to.
It’s not enough for metal to be pissed. No, metal needs to be powerful. Enter Isis, who offer here one of the best metal albums of all time without a single masturbatory, finger tapped solo or palm muted “chug-chug-chug. Chiggity chug-chug-chug.”
Instead, Panopticon achieves its metalicness with sustained chords played through layers of distortion in between post-rock level handling of dynamic shifts. Most of this album is instrumental, which makes it a closer contemporary to Pelican than Pantera, which suits me just fine, even if I can’t believe I missed it for ten years.
Instead, Panopticon achieves its metalicness with sustained chords played through layers of distortion in between post-rock level handling of dynamic shifts. Most of this album is instrumental, which makes it a closer contemporary to Pelican than Pantera, which suits me just fine, even if I can’t believe I missed it for ten years.