Bold school

>> Isis are humble about leading
modern metal forward

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

“We consciously try and not repeat ourselves,” says Isis bassist Jeff Caxide, “but I guess not trying to repeat ourselves has become quite natural to us at the same time. We really hope that each record we do is a leap in a different direction.”

Caxide and his bandmates have proven true to their word with a lengthy discography that has always steered clear of rehashing former glories, evolving in leaps and bounds while still maintaining a signature sound that binds all of their releases. Their new record, In the Absence of Truth, continues to forge ahead creatively, with their trademark brutal blows tucked a bit further into the background as they stretch out with a greater sense of melody and psychedelic post-rock tendencies. Not bad, considering the band could easily coast right now, as they pretty much defined the post-metal sounds that bands like Pelican, Minsk and many others are currently dabbling in.

In 2002, Isis provided the ground zero for the genre with the hugely influential record Oceanic, whose after-tremors in metal and post-rock are still felt today. The influence of Oceanic was further galvanized last year with the band performing the album in its entirety as part of All Tomorrow’s Parties’ Don’t Look Back concert series.

“I guess Oceanic is where we really came into our own sound,” says Caxide. “It was definitely where we shed our Neurosis associations. I think when all is said and done, we will always be known for that record, no matter what direction we take in the future.”

The band’s innovative sound has placed them in unfamiliar territory for most underground metal bands, but Isis has risen to the challenge by playing comfortably in arenas when last year they were hand-picked as Tool’s tour openers, further swelling their fan base. Isis also challenged metal’s confines with a series of remix records drawn from Oceanic, as well as collaboration with noise artist Tim Hecker and a free concert at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.

“We definitely come from a metal background, but even I will admit that when people mention aggressive music or whatever, I think of meatheads moshing around to Slayer or Pantera or something. What a lot of metal is now is not what people equate with metal 20 years ago. You can’t really say one band in particular is responsible for what’s happening right now, but people from metal backgrounds are definitely incorporating different styles into what they do now. You have bands like the Swans that influenced bands like Neurosis and Godflesh, who in turn influenced bands like Pelican or us or even Mogwai to some degree.”

Isis are continuously heralded as the forefathers and innovators of post-metal, psych-metal, avant-garde metal or whatever you want to call it, but the band insist they are just trying to evolve and won’t get bogged down in people’s definitions of what they do.

“Obviously that [post-metal] tag, and being called innovators, makes us feel a little bit awkward because there are just so many bands out there that are playing like-minded kind of stuff. We are hardly the band waving some sort of post-rock flag and saying, ‘Follow us into the future,’ or anything. That’s just not us at all.” cy.” Ace Fu than I had coming in, but I guess that’s just part of the craziness. I think, through all of this, I definitely feel stronger. I just feel so blessed with the people I play music with now. We’re really lucky that we’re able to do what we do and have such great fans, because they’re the kind of people who don’t care about the blog-darling bands, and we feel we really had to earn that kind of fan base. We’re working day jobs and are all pretty broke, but we’re able to go play shows anywhere we want in the world, and there’s always going to be a kid there going crazy in the front row. That kind of makes everything all worth it.