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Isis: Mosquito control
20/02/09 || Daemonomania
Not to be nitpicky, but even the most amateur entomologist could tell you that Isis probably are referring to insects in general in their song titles on this EP, but not Anopheles specifically. After all, mosquitoes don’t lay poison eggs, or live in hives. Not only that, but I typically use my hands to swat those nasty bloodsuckers when they land on me. I’m not going to watch their nasty fucking disease carrying proboscis enter my skin while I stroll on over to the cabinet, look for the swatter, and then hit the bastard (and by extension myself) with it.
I hate mosquitoes, by the way. Quite possibly my least favorite being on earth. Pond-breeding, carbon dioxide detecting, anti-coagulant dispensing motherfuckers. Fuck them.
Nevertheless, let’s discuss Isis and their first real release, shall we? Back in 1998 the whole “post-metal” style wasn’t as prevalent as it is today. Isis have certainly risen to the top of the subgenre heap at this point, but their humble beginnings are much more to my liking then more popular albums like “Oceanic” or “Panopticon.” Why, you ask? Because back in the day sludge and doom metal dominated their sound, and post just relaxed in the background with a soda.
This EP is under thirty minutes, but packs a helluva punch. The riffs are dense and mean (check the awesome Crowbar riff in “Hive destruction”), the vocals are unfailingly harsh and distorted, the bass adds extra fat rolls to an already heavy bottom, the drums push the songs to their violent peaks, and there are sound effects layered in behind the madness to add to the unsettling atmosphere. The production is quite good but leans a bit toward the crusty side, definitely on purpose. If you’re looking for a reference point, I’d say Neurosis’ “Enemy of the sun” with a lot more structure and less experimentation would be a good bet.
Lyrically, I don’t think they’re really talking about bugs. They certainly use a lot of insectine imagery and do it well, but in the end it’s a bunch of that free-association ranting that might be about relationships gone bad. Got me. Turner delivers the word with conviction at least. And the artwork is cool too – a nice silvery booklet with diagrams of mosquito anatomy and general weirdness.
So if you listen to “Through silver in blood” before breakfast and “Somewhere along the highway” after dinner, with the time remaining during your lunch break I’d recommend “Mosquito control”. Just keep the swatter handy. Or your bare hands, uh, handy. For swatting purposes.
8 hives destroyed out of 10.
- Information
- Released: 1998
- Label: Escape Artists
- Website: www.isistheband.com
- Band
- Aaron Turner: vocals, guitars
- Chris Mereshuk: keyboards, vocals
- Jeff Caxide: bass
- Aaron Harris: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Poison Eggs
- 02. Life Under The Swatter
- 03. Hive Destruction
- 04. Relocation Swarm
