Isis.

WHAT'S MOST COMPELLING about the Boston quintet Isis is how they approach their music. Like a painter, architect or writer creating a piece of work that only answers to the artist and to the test of time, their songs are carefully, if not painstaking constructed and thought out with unfaltering attention shown to not only their overall wall of sound heaviness but also the melodic nuances that make up their densely layered avant-metal. After eight years, six records and a series of remixes, the group continues to explore new musical areas and ideas, while questioning art (and music as art) with their third full length Panopticon (Ipecac). This record is being considered their pinnacle sonic achievement to date, even exceeding the expectations that were placed on them after the critically acclaimed Oceanic, but as you will read, Isis is about the passion and the inspiration found in the struggle to create music to be proud of.

Panopticon is a concept record based on the French philosopher Michel Foucault's theory of the panopticon as a machine to disassociate the seen-being-seen dyad. Why did you choose this concept to base your record on?

Aaron Turner: Before we started working on this record it was pretty hard to ignore the political climate in the US. We were all in Europe when we started bombing the Middle East. By chance I happened on the Foucault essay and it really resonated with me and had some parallels to what was currently going on. I though it was an interesting way to approach a semi political topic without it being preachy or really specific in its objective.

How do you communicate a concept like this to an audience?

AT: I included quotes in the liner notes from some of the sources that I came across, and to me that seems like enough. They can investigate it for themselves. I feel like our music is like that too; there is a lot of stuff buried in the mix, and if you are listening to it in a deep way you can discover other things, but you can also just enjoy it. To me, our music is visual and creates imagery in the mind and becomes an intuitive guide. Is that what you want the listener to take? Not so much the literal aspect of it but more of being an active participant?

AT: Yeah. It's not meant to be purposely vague, but to leave something for the listener.

Aaron Harris: I think the listener can be more involved with the music if they invest themselves. That is the highlight of this band and if they choose to, they can then evolve with us from record to record.

Is there room for social critique and philosophy in rock?

AT: Definitely. You should be able to do whatever you want. I think that's pretty obvious with how we approach things in terms of the conventions of music.

Is there a point when instrumental songs are too long?

Mike Gallagher: We're not acutely aware or intending to write long songs.

Jeff Caxide: It may have something to do with our influences, and that longer songs are usually more dynamic and interesting. Four-minute songs are more boring to me.

Do you think complex records like Oceanic and Panopticon are difficult albums for a mainstream audience to grasp?

AT: I'm not saying our music is good, but that most music I think is good is not really tolerable in the mainstream sense. Now that isn't true across the board, but for the most part, all the intriguing music that is being made is not being consumed on a larger scale.

AH: Audiences don't have the attention span for nine-minute songs.

AT: It's a cultural thing at this point because we've been so conditioned to absorb things as small chunklets of data. If you look at bands from the '60s and '70s, like Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, there are a lot that had extended, lengthy, epic songs that were popular. I guess people were not as overwhelmed with sensory stuff of all kinds, so they were more willing to invest time than trying to get a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

What can you accomplish with a mostly ambient instrumental song that you can't with pop or rock music?

AT: It puts you in a different headspace. I derive a different kind of satisfaction and listening experience from it. You get the visceral impact of it, but you also get something not necessarily blissful or peaceful, but a different kind of dynamic that adds a lot of depth to the music. It's a different kind of payoff that requires more patience.

How effective is the meaning of each song if the lyrics are unintelligible to the listener?

AT: The lyrics are very important to me because the content is something I feel strongly about. I also want to give a quality performance. I think you need to feel attached to and passionate about what you're doing to make music that comes across as being inspired and impassioned. It's another open ended, mysterious element of the band. I don't feel it is necessary to clearly annunciate every word I sing and if I did it wouldn't have the same effect that it does. It's just another way that we abstracted the rock 'n' roll blueprint.

AH: Yeah, it just sounds cool too.

You've toured the world with some of the more progressive bands of our era (Mogwai, Dillinger Escape Plan, Aereogramme, Neurosis); you've also been compared to Tool. What bands do you see as your contemporaries?

AT: I'm always reluctant to answer this question because it almost means you are equating the quality of your band with another band. The bands we've toured with are bands that in some cases I have worshiped for a long time, like the Melvins. And to call them our contemporaries, I can't think of it that way, but at the same time I do feet lucky to be part of whatever this loose like-minded network is.

You are all in other bands; how or what does that add to Isis?

AT: Isis is my main priority but the other projects feel almost like a release in a way. It definitely is something I love to do, but at the same time it's also something that keeps me awake at night and worries me. I think everyone would agree.

Why does it worry you?

AT: Because I want it to be good and I spend so much time on it.

AH: We have other jobs, but we've made lots of sacrifices for this band.

AT: I think anything that is ultimately truly gratifying and something substantial requires that of you. Without sounding like a tortured artist, you really do have to suffer to create good art. Music is a very central part of who I am and how I define myself. It is relief, release, and discovery. I think music is perceived as entertainment or another product to consume, especially in the US and I totally don't see it that way at all. I see rock music as being a completely valid art form, and that when it is in the hands of the right people, it can be just as enriching as a classic novel.