Wednesday 19 May 2010

Just a quick one...

First off, new stuff will be up shortly. I finally have a modicum of free time as of late, and have about three reviews on the go. I'll try and finish them.

Secondly, I know that for someone my age, who never really listened to his stuff, talking about the death of Ronnie James Dio would be horribly bandwagon-ish, so here's something I'm actually qualified to speak about. Today Isis announced their impending breakup. I guess the whole leaving-college-soon-to-go-to-uni thing has left me with a big thing about things I love ending, but I just wanted to put something down.

I've been listening to Isis for almost a year - give or take a few days. I got into them via the webcomic Questionable Content and, curious about the post-metal genre, I gave a listen to So Did We. I fell instantly in love with it, and it totally changed my understanding of what metal could do artistically.

I never really thought about Isis as one of my favourite bands, but the more I think about it, the higher they are in my estimation - I love them more than Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, Slipknot, Carcass...bands I've been listening to much longer, bands that are the foundation for my metal fandom. Honestly, I wouldn't be as upset if Slayer or Slipknot broke up. I love them, and they have these amazing legacies, but despite being two bands that my love of metal is based on, I don't have the emotional connection to the music those bands made that I do with Isis. What's more, by introducing me to post-rock, and from there, to many other genres, they have opened my eyes to more great music than I can think of. The greatest tragedy of all is that they were never recognised as the geniuses they are, except by a few people. They will be missed by anyone who loved their work. If you haven't listened to them, you owe it to yourself to do so.

That's all the whining I've got.