ISIS — Celestial (review)

ISIS — Celestial album cover Album · 2000 · Atmospheric Sludge Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Unitron
Before Isis really popularized Neurosis' blend of sludge metal and post-rock, with a bunch of mediocre copycats following in their wake and making classic sludge that much harder to find, Celestial showed how earth-shatteringly heavy they could be. Perfectly blending Neurosis' atmospheric take on sludge with the screeching aggression of Floor, this hits a perfect balance that their later albums lost. The title track's massive riff just stomps and stomps and remains one of the most thunderous songs in the entire metal genre.

To not sacrifice the heaviness of sludge or the subtleties of post-rock, they typically don't overlap the two sounds and use post-rock sections for contrast making them that much more atmospheric and the sludge that much sludgier. C.F.T. cools things down throughout a whole song though, and reminds me a lot of Golden Earring's song Silver Ships. It's a mellow ride until its galloping end, but the production and guitar/bass tones still make it a wall of sound.

This is hardcore sludge that can be played alongside both Neurosis and the likes of Crowbar and Floor.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
Triceratopsoil wrote:
more than 2 years ago
this album is so heavy, I love it
BitterJalapeno wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Nice review indeed. I actually haven't heard this but it sounds very much up my street.
Unitron wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Isis is definitely consistent, and their later albums are good for what they are, but are too post metal and not enough sludge for me personally. I like post rock influences in metal, but I don't really like post metal if that makes any sense.
Bosh66 wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Good review Khaliq. You sum up the album nicely. ISIS were always consistent in my book and this was a very strong debut.
siLLy puPPy wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I love all Isis albums. This one is actually one of my favorites.

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Everything Hurts And I'm Dying Atmospheric Sludge Metal
NEGATIVE BLISS
Buy this album from MMA partners
L'impôt du sang Melodic Black Metal
CONIFÈRE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Pleroma Progressive Metal
ORGONE
Buy this album from MMA partners
n​ê​bam​Ω​ejn Atmospheric Black Metal
TRHÄ
Buy this album from MMA partners
∫um'ad​∂​ejja cavvaj Atmospheric Black Metal
TRHÄ
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Origin Of Infinity - Chronosphere (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO)
ORIGIN OF INFINITY
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Kingdom of Heaven - “Pleasures of Pain”
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Bosh66· 1 day ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed