Oooh, I quite like this one. Isis’ “Red Sea EP” (which on CD includes an early, but well-produced demo by the band) is pure aggression, a monumentally dense and sludgy doom/hardcore metal release. Awesomely brutal vocals combine with extra sludgy riffage and shockingly distorted bass/guitar combos for aural assault opener “Carmicarmicarmicat Shines To Earth”. Great, mysterious sound samples featuring some quasi-Southern chick expounding on the wonders of nature work as a backdrop to the relentless, unwavering “The Minus Times” and crushing “Red Sea”. Isis quite obviously master a sound remiscent of genre-buddies Neurosis, and even add their own to the pot with some of the most gruelling, grinding, unforgiving stuff I’ve heard in a long while.

The four demo tracks sound somewhat thinner, less “bassy” (most likely due to production quality rather than a conscious decision on behalf of the band), but are nonetheless finely crafted songs. The slight change in sound quality from one half of the CD to the other is perhaps less than pleasing to the attentive listener, but after a while even I found my ears adapting to the new sound, and enjoying them all quite a bit. Still, I found the demo songs to be less brooding, perhaps less elegant than the original EP tracks, even though they maintain the fiercely coreish extreme metal sound found in the beginning half.

Beat those hipsters at any party into place, yo! with great efficiency. “The Red Sea” is probably a very nice Christmas gift for your granny too. Ehem.

Year Released: 1999
Label: Second Nature Recordings
Related Link: Isis Official Website
Date Reviewed: 2004-01-18
Author: Andreas