Celestial (Isis album)

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For the RBD album, see Celestial (RBD album). For other uses, see Celestial (disambiguation).

Celestial
Studio album by
Isis
ReleasedApril 3, 2000
RecordedJanuary–February 2000
GenrePost-metal,[1] sludge metal[2][3]
Length51:58
LabelEscape Artist
(EA07.0)
Hydra Head
(HH666-59)
Ipecac (reissue)
(IPC-145)
ProducerIsis, Matt Bayles
Isis chronology
Sawblade EP
(1999) 		Celestial
(2000) 		SGNL>05
(2001)
Re-release cover
The cover of Ipecac Recordings' 2013 re-release

Celestial is the debut album by American post-metal band Isis, released in 2000 by Escape Artist and Hydra Head Records. It is their third "official" solo release and first full length.

A year later, Isis released SGNL>05, an EP designed to act as an extension to Celestial; its tracks were all directly culled from the Celestial recording sessions.[4] Frontman Aaron Turner describes them as being “part of the same whole”, separated from each other because releasing a double album for the group's first full-length may have been overbearing for listeners.[5]

In addition to the regular CD and vinyl LP editions, Celestial is available in a double release, coupled with its sister EP, SGNL>05. On June 5, 2013, it was announced that Celestial would be re-issued by Ipecac Recordings with new artwork from Turner, as well as the audio having been recently remastered by James Plotkin.[6]

Themes[edit]

Turner has acknowledged that the album deals with the erosion of privacy as technology advances, in a similar vein to 2004's Panopticon; however, he states that the theme is dealt with in a “more primitive way” on Celestial.[7] Towers are described as ‘thematic’ material by Decibel's Joe Gross.[8]

Reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[10]
Exclaim!8/10[11]
The Line of Best Fit8.5/10[12]
Metal Hammer[13]
Mondo Sonoro9/10[14]
OndaRock6.5/10[15]
PopMatters7/10[16]
Stylus MagazineA[17]

Celestial was named the 53rd-finest metal record of the decade by Decibel, stating that "it's seen as a transitional record between the band's early work and the post-metal benchmarks such as Oceanic, but Celestial holds up in ways different from their later work [...] the elements of the greatness are present, but rawer, more direct."[8] Rock Sound placed it at #3 in their rundown of their top albums of 2001[18] and Metal Hammer named it one of the 20 best metal albums of 2000.[19] In 2011, William York, writing for AllMusic, described the album as Isis' best, and argues that the record needs to be “given time” – that it eventually develops an “almost epic feel”.[9]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Isis

No.TitleLength
1."SGNL>01"0:55
2."Celestial (The Tower)"9:42
3."Glisten"6:35
4."Swarm Reigns (Down)"6:02
5."SGNL>02"0:51
6."Deconstructing Towers"7:30
7."SGNL>03"0:35
8."Collapse and Crush"5:55
9."C.F.T. (New Circuitry and Continued Evolution)"5:43
10."Gentle Time"7:02
11."SGNL>04 (End Transmission)"1:07

Personnel[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jahdi, Robin (June 24, 2015). "The 40 best post-metal records ever made". Fact. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  2. ^ Slessor, Dan (June 16, 2020). "The 13 Most Essential Sludge Records". Kerrang!. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  3. ^ Jahdi, Robin (May 8, 2009). "Isis: Wavering Radiant". FACT Magazine. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
  4. ^ Slevin, Patrick (May 26, 2009). "Interview with Aaron Turner of Isis: Radiating Energy". The Aquarian. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
  5. ^ "PRIMER: Aaron Turner Revisits Isis' Entire Catalog". Self-Titled. Pop Mart Media. June 4, 2010. Archived from the original on August 10, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  6. ^ "ISIS Reissuing 'Celestial' – Remastered and New Artwork". Nefarious Realm. June 5, 2013. Archived from the original on November 1, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  7. ^ Rauf, Adam (June 18, 2010). "The Isis Interview: Exclusive". Blow the Scene. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
  8. ^ a b Gross, Joe (November 2009). "53: Isis – Celestial". Decibel (The Top 100 Greatest Metal Albums of the Decade): 21.
  9. ^ a b York, William. "Celestial – Isis". AllMusic. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  10. ^ Popoff, Martin; Perri, David (2011). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 4: The '00s. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 243–244. ISBN 9781-926592-20-6.
  11. ^ Pratt, Greg (July 5, 2013). "Isis Celestial". exclaim.ca. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  12. ^ Copus, Mike (July 3, 2013). "Isis – Celestial (reissue)". thelineofbestfit.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  13. ^ July 2013, Ben Myers 23 (July 23, 2013). "Isis: Celestial". Metal Hammer Magazine.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "ISIS - Noticias, discos, entrevistas y conciertos".
  15. ^ "Isis - biografia, recensioni, streaming, discografia, foto". OndaRock.
  16. ^ Fiander, Matthew (July 10, 2013). "Isis Celestial". popmatters.com. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  17. ^ Jarvis, Clay (September 1, 2003). "Isis – Celestial". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
  18. ^ "Rock Sound: Critics' Poll 2001". Rocklist.net. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  19. ^ "The Top 20 best metal albums of 2000". Metal Hammer. Future plc. September 29, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  20. ^ a b Celestial (Media notes). Isis. Escape Artist Records. 1999. EA7.0.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

External links[edit]

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