Anyway, I was here to talk about my opinions on the album itself. First of all I have to tell, the artwork of the album is absolutely and completely amazing and fits the themes of the album perfectly. Whenever I listen to the album all I can think of are industrial settings and blue (I wonder why??).
Panopticon starts out with So Did We, which I consider the epitome of ISIS to me. The structure of the song is beautiful. The creeping guitar sounds and tight drums accompany each other amazingly and the eerie but still aggressive vocals are nicely blended to not be the lead "instrument" of the composition. The so-called breakdown of the song where the harsh riffing cuts down and the clean guitar melodies paint a gorgeous landscape only to progress into the last crushing riff of the song which always send chills down my spine. At the end of the song I feel somehow pumped up for the rest of the album which I know is going to be as amazing as this was.
Backlit starts out a lot friendlier and progresses through the song with both quiet and loud points to a groovy break with and awesome baseline. The song also ends with a bang. Aaron Turners vocal performance is shining in Backlit as he changes back and forth with clean and harsh vocals. At this point I also have to mention the raw-like drum sounds which play a huge role in the album's grooviness.
Next comes In Fiction which is one of the bands most notable songs with a great music video. The song's structure is a basic post-rocky post-metal song structure which starts out quiet and continues to grow until a breakdown which brings the song to ground level once again. I have to mention the moment when the drums shift to a hit on the snare rather than a sidestick is a great point in the song. The breakdown isn't the end of the song though as it teases you by raising the momentum bits at a time only to grow to a crushing guitar riff. The song ends by going back to it's opening motions, the clean melody.
The next song, Wills Dissolve is the shortest song in the album and it starts with an eerie clean motion followed by a groovy drum beat. The same theme continues with a distorted guitar and more heavy drumming. The vocals hit the song just barely after the four minute mark with a raspy clean melody. The rest of the song progresses to a heavy ending which crushes even harder than the earlier songs.
Wills Dissolve ties well with the next song Syndic Calls which continues straight from where it was left. The guitar groove in the beginning has stuck in my mind since the first listens. The crescendo towards the end of the song is what post-metal is to me, distorted sound which somewhat still sounds like the most beautiful thing in the world.
The opening riff of Altered Course shows how a good groove can be made with just a guitar and the drums. After the bass hits the song it becomes even more groovy. The song makes me nod every time I listen to it. Altered Course feels a lot more philosophical (if you can say that of an instrumental song) than the other songs. The melodies and the construction seem thought provoking and interesting.
The ending track Grinning Mouths sums up all the feels of the album; the sadness, the energy and all the blue colour in the world. The song starts with a very creepy guitar melody. When the heavy hits of crushing guitars and toms hit the scene only to carry the song on to the next section which - to everybody's surprise - isn't a crushing riff but a continuation of the creepy sound. Only after a brief break is the song lifted up and up to the heights of the sky. The tremolo melody leads the song to the heavy riffage and harsh vocals. After that comes the moment which is a very non-ISIS-like move; a sudden break to a strumming chord. The next riff is probably one of my favourites from the whole album accompanied by a perfect distorted melody. The same motif continues through the rest of the song which ends to a bang.
That concludes my thoughts on Panopticon, an album so meaningful to me. I remember the day my brother introduced the album to me. The same day (or a couple days later) I just had to buy the CD and listen to it many times through. I can't wait to find an album to top Panopticon, though it seems highly improbable.
-Matti
