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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Oceanic
ISIS
2002
Album Summary
This album has been submitted by a user and is not included in any edition of the book.
Oceanic is the second full-length album by American post-metal band ISIS, released on September 17, 2002, by Ipecac Recordings. On November 4, 2014, a remastered edition was released via Hydrahead/Ipecac Recordings. Since its release, Oceanic has received critical acclaim and has been regarded as a masterpiece.
On July 23, 2006, Isis performed Oceanic in its entirety at KOKO, Camden Town, London as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties curated Don't Look Back series. This performance was recorded and eventually released in 2009 as Live V. The track "Weight" was used in the 20th episode of the 1st season of the 2007 television series Friday Night Lights.
The album themes are considered to be an expansion on the bands 1999 EP The Red Sea, which includes themes of water throughout, death, emotional detachment, incest, and suicide.
The album’s style marks a distinct departure from their previous sound; up until this point, Isis had been characterised by crushing, distorted guitars and a coarse, unforgiving tone. With this album came the introduction of lengthy periods of clean guitar, large amounts of ambient noise and female vocals; a notable post-rock influence, first hinted at on SGNL>05 and Celestial. This transition was retrospectively labelled by FACT's Robin Jahdi as "one of the more eye-opening musical metamorphoses of the decade"; it has been described as "seminal". As Ben Richardson notes in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the album's release "fomented an explosion of glacial, Neurosis-inspired instrumental 'post-metal'"; likewise it has been described as "the standard by which all post-metal albums have been judged since". It has retrospectively been labelled a "masterpiece".
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Date
Aug 13 2025
3
Welp the band name didn’t pan out long term. The album is pretty decent. Hardcore prog metal that’s kind of like a more intense tool. Worst part of this album was the singer with the intense yelling. If this is a full instrumental or he toned it down a little this album would have some good replay value but that’s not the case. Instead it’s an album that has its moments but not something I’d choose over some other prog rock metal bands. 6.4/10
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